Australians meet their masters (19 May 1999)

19 may 1999

Australians meet their masters

Gareth A Davies

The Australian batsmen found the conditions unplayable. In turn, Michael Bevan, Shane Lee, Damian Fleming and Adam Dale were bamboozled by flight and guile, playing and missing, over after over, against school-age bowlers.

Dale finally relieved the pressure, flicking a short delivery off his hip to square leg for four runs before being comprehensively bowled by the next delivery - which bounced twice. Enter Bevan. No change in the scenario. Then, unbelievably, train stopped play.

The Australian one-day side may have comfortably beaten Scotland in their first match at Worcester on Sunday, and remain among the favourites to lift the World Cup at Lord's on June 20, but a break from their schedule did nothing for their confidence when they were routed in a closed-doors session by a Royal National Institute for the Blind school XI from New College, Worcester.

The Australians, wearing blacked-out goggles, were shown different skills with a small-sized, specially-designed football with bells in it which enables the batsman and fielders to hear the ball. Last November, the first World Cup for blind cricketers was played in India with Neil Prior, a former New College pupil, among them representing England.

"Great fun but very difficult," was the assessment of Fleming after bowling several wides and with not a single run to his name. "To have these kids here with the aim of playing for England and eventually a World Cup is just fantastic." Bevan added: "This visit has made us appreciate the value of sight and how well these guys and girls are doing in their cricket."

Clive Spencer, the cricket master who has taught sport at RNIB New College for 30 years, said: "It's important to raise awareness of blind sport because fewer and fewer children come to special schools. The majority of students now go into mainstream education and they don't get the opportunity to play team games."

After all, on their day, and given the same handicap, a group of schoolchildren proved that they can beat the world's best.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)