No sight, no problemThey have a long way to go before they can pursue cricket
as a vocation, but the world's blind cricketers are trying to get there
Nikita Bastian
December 20, 2012
Hamish MacKenzie, 42, of Australia, bats © Getty Images
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News : Lots of cheer as India win T20 World Cup for the Blind
Teams: Australia | England | India | South Africa | West Indies
I walk onto the Central College grounds in Bangalore just in time to hear India
have won the toss and will be batting against Sri Lanka. The players are on the
field in their team kits, knocking balls around and doing fielding drills.
Apart from the lack of giant concrete stands packed with screaming fans, there
is nothing to suggest that this is not just another T20 international. Until
you notice some of the players are being led onto the field on the arms of
their team-mates and support staff.
It is the semi-final of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup for the Blind.
Pakistan have just beaten England in the first semi, and India and Sri Lanka
are about to play for the other slot in the final. There are a few hundred
people milling about, many of them players from the nine participating
countries. Off to one side is a table with trophies, to be handed out the
following day.
On the PA, the announcer says it's 14 minutes to game time. I find myself a
seat and browse through the rules. There are three categories of players in
each team: B1, who are fully blind; B2, those who can see up to three metres;
and B3, those who can see up to six. The ball, which jingles, is delivered
underarm, and rolls along the pitch (there is an overarm variant in England).
The B1s bat with runners, and each run they make counts for two under the
rules.
As the action gets underway, the first 15 minutes produce a powerful helicopter
shot, a direct hit from long-on, and a leaping attempt at a catch at fine leg.
It is hard to pick out the fully blind fielders at first, as most move quite
naturally when the bowler runs in. After the ball is hit, though, you can see
the difference: while the partially blind run after the ball, the B1 players
only throw themselves, fully prone, in the direction of the ball when they hear
it approach.
Trying to get my head around what I am witnessing, and wondering how to bring
up the players' visual handicaps without coming across as insensitive, I head
in the direction of the teams. I spot a salesman trying to sell a group of
players sunglasses. A couple of the visually impaired players try a pair on and
then pass them to a blind team-mate, who can't get them on. "You're wearing
them upside down," his friend informs him, and he, along with the others,
bursts out laughing. I am a little relieved; this lot, from the West Indies,
don't seem to be bogged down by what can be construed as a limitation.
What makes the partially sighted or blind get into cricket? "I just went for
the juice and snacks," Toussaint Gardner, the visually impaired West Indies
captain, laughs. He says he thinks he's a better footballer than cricketer. "I
was in university when the English brought the [blind] game to Jamaica in 2006.
I did not think cricket could be played with a rolling ball, but I tried out
and here I am."
Many agree the game opens up new avenues for the players. South Africa's
Hendrik Christiaan, who played two 40-over World Cups before this one, says:
"The diseases that lead to you being visually impaired narrow your world.
Playing this sport encourages us to get out of that little black hole. It is a
means to earn respect in the community." One of his team-mates who was part of
a street gang was shot in the head about five years ago and so lost his sight.
"The bullet is still lodged in there somewhere, but that was a turning point
for him," Christiaan says. "He decided to clean up his life and started to play
cricket. The game gave him a second chance."
"While I was on my way to a hundred, the commentator was referring to me as
'the Jacques Kallis of the blind team' over the PA - that made me want to stay
in all the more"
Johan Schroeder, who, during a group game against Sri Lanka, became the first
B1 player in history to score a century for South Africa
Sugam Pattarai, Nepal's team manager and secretary of the Cricket Association
of the Blind in Nepal, says many of the players in his team have found jobs
because of cricket. "For us, the players develop through cricket. The game
lifts them, gives them a better quality of life. Like our captain - he's a
musician in a restaurant in Kathmandu. We also have a professional masseur.
These players have found jobs only because of cricket. The businesses'
management is often very excited to see that they play cricket for Nepal and,
to help them out, offer them jobs."
As might be expected, finances are an issue for most teams. Several, but not
all, countries' blind cricket associations are affiliated to their sighted
teams' cricket boards, but that doesn't necessarily mean any financial
security; they have to campaign to raise funds. Nepal managed to raise the
money needed to fly in for the tournament, but not enough to fly out: they made
a 52-hour journey from Bangalore to Gorakhpur on the India-Nepal border, and it
then took them another 12 hours by road into Nepal.
Almost all the players across teams hold jobs during the week to support their
families, and play cricket on weekends. Many had problems getting leave to come
to the World Cup. "We don't have enough time to play," England's Hassan Khan
points out. "We have our jobs or education to pursue. At times, cricket is not
the priority, and we can spare just one or two weekends a month for it."
An added worry for some of the non-subcontinent countries is the lack of
youngsters coming through. South Africa are struggling to fill places left
vacant after their older players move on, and it's no different for Australia.
"There's no one to replace the old guys like me," laughs 42-year-old Hamish
MacKenzie, who lost his sight in an accident at 26. "There are 250 visually
impaired cricketers in Australia, we have a national championship once in two
years and two or three national camps a year. But it is hard to know where the
young cricketers will come from. About 15 to 20 years ago blind cricket was the
only thing they could take up; now they have so many weekend-sports options.
And there are no blind schools anymore to take cricket to - these kids have all
been integrated into the mainstream.
"We are actively trying to get hold of young kids while they are at school,
through organisations like Vision Australia. We players try to do our parts
too. I also play goalball, the Paralympic sport, and when playing in the local
league in Victoria, I try to talk the players into trying cricket. Sometimes
they come and knock a few balls around, and by the time the goalball season
finishes and the cricket one starts, they know where they stand with cricket.
Hopefully we get a few new young faces that way."
Blind cricket 101
Vernon Barnard of South Africa bowling
© ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Types of balls: The ball that is used internationally is made of plastic and
contains small metal pieces, which make the required sound. In Australia, the
ball has two layers: the inner shell contains metal bits and the outer is made
up of an open weave. In the UK, a size three football containing ball bearings
is used; this ball is bowled overarm.
Team composition: Four B1s, four B2s, three B3s. Two players from the same
category cannot open the innings. B1 players have to bowl a minimum of eight
overs in T20s.
Formats: T20, 40 overs. The Blind Ashes comprises a series of one-day matches.
No. 1 priority: Hearing the ball is crucial and the biggest challenge for the
players on the field, almost every player agrees
Global blind cricket tournaments: World Cup 1998 (40 overs), winner South
Africa; World Cup 2002 (40 overs), winner Pakistan; World Cup 2006 (40 overs),
winner Pakistan; World Cup 2012 (T20), winner India
Next up: The 40 overs World Cup in 2015, which will be in South Africa. Arjuna
Ranatunga has also announced plans to launch an Asia Cup.
Vernon Barnaard, whose 19-year-old son Vernon Jr (a B1 player) is the youngest
in the South African team, says it's up to parents to nudge their visually
impaired children towards activities that can help them grow. "Once I was
driving along with my two sons and we saw people jet-skiing on the lake of a
dam. We were discussing it, when Vernon asked me, 'What's a dam?' We often have
moments like these, which are very revealing. Many of these kids haven't even
seen a field. They need to be actively led by their families if they are to get
into the game. And if they do get into it, it can only do them good, as it
broadens their horizons."
Neil Mackay, Australia's coach, who also works with sighted cricketers, says
that a more hands-on approach is often needed. "The biggest challenge is
communication. With a B2 or B3 player, you can demonstrate, show them how to
keep the elbow up. That's not an option with a B1. Here you have to spend more
time with them and literally hold their elbow up in the right position to tell
them how it's done."
The challenges, though, sit lightly on the players for the most part. Most of
the ones I chat with are quite open and seemingly at ease with their blindness.
Australia's MacKenzie tells me how, when the team went go-karting once, his
partially sighted team-mates allowed him and the other B1s to have a go at
steering, only for him to end up crashing into a large tyre wall and pick up
flak about his driving skills. England's Hassan, also a B1 player, tells a
story, overcome with mirth: "I was having a swim at the team hotel. I got out
of the pool and dried myself off, and my team-mate and I decided to play a
prank on the lifeguard on duty. My friend left me to walk by myself, and I,
pretending I didn't know where I was going, promptly turned towards the pool
and walked off the edge. The lifeguard had a moment's panic and jumped up to
rescue me, before we let him in on the joke."
India go on to win the semi-final, and a day later there is good news for blind
cricket as a large crowd shows interest in the India-Pakistan final, which the
home team wins. The heady few minutes that follow, as the India players take
their lap of honour and celebrate with the fans, are a well-timed reminder that
cricket is not just about money or power or politics.
The essence of the sport, however, is captured by Rupa Balal and Bhagawati
Bhattarai from Nepal, the only two women players in the competition. "I've
devoted mind, body and soul to cricket from the start, and it has taught me so
much," says Balal. "We may not be as powerful [as the men] when it comes to
batting and bowling," Bhattarai says. "But then cricket is not just about
power. Technique, strategy, temperament, it all counts. It's a sport that
teaches you many life lessons."
Nikita Bastian is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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