A BRIEF HISTORY OF MIXED
DISABILITY CRICKET
Pre the BACD and CFPD
Early in 1989 Dick Wildgoose observed a group of blind people playing cricket with a football filled with ball bearings. The blind needed to hear the ball bounce.
He could see no reason why people with mixed disabilities could not play cricket and play the game following the set laws of cricket. The Deaf and Blind cricketers were well established and well organised. The people with learning difficulties or with physical disabilities played a game which was very basic and often involved the skill of hitting a ball between two sticks set several metres apart.
When transporting disabled people from a local training college to church the next Sunday, he asked them if they would like to play cricket and the answer was “Yes”!
Mike Jeffery, the Oswestry Youth Worker from Centre North West, took up the challenge and arranged for Dick to coach members of the local PHAB group. On 23rd May, 1989 the first coaching session was given to this group and the sport of cricket for people with mixed disabilities was born.
In September 1989 a ten-week coaching course was set up by Dick (a senior cricket coach with the Association of Cricket Coaches) for people with disabilities in the Oswestry area.
February 1990 saw the first indoor county tournament at Oswestry Leisure Centre for six teams in the Shropshire area. Teams competed from Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Wrexham. Unsurprisingly Oswestry won.
The first ever British tournament was held in Shrewsbury in June 1990 won again by Oswestry. This was followed in the winter 1990/91 by the setting up of Shropshire disabled cricket league with eight teams run by the newly formed Shropshire Disabled Cricket Association.
March 1991 saw the first County match, when Tameside travelled to Oswestry to play Shropshire.
Videos on the sport were circulated to many overseas countries.
Formation of the BACD
June 30th, 1991, Dick Wildgoose set up and chaired the British Association for Cricketers with Disabilities (BACD) at Oswestry Cricket Club, where the first AGM was held.
August 1992, the BACD organised an international conference at The Hereward College, Coventry.
Monday 5th September, 1992 was declared the “international cricket for people with disabilities day”. Various outdoor tournaments and a ‘running between the wickets competion’ were held and demonstrations run at various cricket grounds to spread the word.
Dick and Fred resigned from the BACD in 1994.
Formation of the CFPD
In November 1994 the Cricket Federation for People with Disabilities was formed by Dick and Fred Wildgoose to run high profile matches and give disabled cricketers the same opportunities as their able bodied counterparts to progress through the sport. Matches at high profile county cricket grounds would also spread the word much more effectively.
March 1995 saw the first England v Wales match at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
1997 South v North match at the Oval
1998 An “A” team international was held at Old Trafford cricket ground.
Matches have been organised by the CFPD annually since these dates at these venues involving men and women cricketers.
There were teams now playing in Surrey, Dorset, Somerset, Lincolnshire, Shropshire, Wrexham, Lancashire, Yorkshire, West Midlands, North, South and Mid-Wales, Stafforshire.
June 1st, 1999 saw the formation of the ECB County league administered by Martin Hazelock of the BACD and this has gone from strength to strength. More counties are now involved.
The first comprehensive coaching book (The Wildgoose Way) was published in March 2000, and the CFPD were invited onto the ECB Disability Sub Group. (This has since become the ECB Disabilities Management Committee.)
December 2002 marked the first International tour for mixed disabilities cricket. The CFPD invited the BACD to nominate some of the players and took a team to tour India playing at Delhi, Lucknow and Mumbai.
Matches have also been organised by CFPD at Edgbaston and Headingley.
They also organise matches annually at Sherborne, Luctonians and Newport Cricket Clubs.
The CFPD have organised tournaments for Junior Cricketers with Disabilities at Edgbaston and Oxford.
In 2006 the CFPD was granted the prestigious Queen’s Award for Volunteers.