Sun | May 5, 2024

Jamaica set to take on Barbados in blind cricket

Published:Thursday | July 27, 2023 | 12:07 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
In this 2007 file picture, Barbados batsman Ricardo Manning raises his bat after reaching a half-century against Jamaica at the Melbourne Cricket Club grounds.
Ricardo Makyn
In this 2007 file picture, Barbados batsman Ricardo Manning raises his bat after reaching a half-century against Jamaica at the Melbourne Cricket Club grounds.

JAMAICA WILL host Barbados in a game of blind cricket on Monday at the Discovery Bauxite’s Port Rhoades Sports Club in Discovery Bay, St Ann, beginning at 10 a.m.

“The match is one leg of an all-island tour arranged by the Jamaica Visually Impaired Cricket Association. The match is free to spectators and will provide a different form of sports attraction for the public,” read a release from Discovery Bauxite, one of the sponsors.

“The objectives of the Blind Cricket Association are to use competitive cricket to teach the blind to look at life positively, gain confidence, and strive to be winners rather than dependents, and to use the game as a medium to transmit the message of ability and talent to society,” the company added.

A second game, this time a T20 match, is scheduled for Thursday, August 3, at Ultimate Jerk Centre, also in Discovery Bay. The two games in St Ann are part of a wider development tour by the cricketers, which includes eight games, set to run from July 31 to August 9.

“This is a commendable ‘reach out’ to the less fortunate as we know that the company itself is going through a difficult phase,” said Steve Ashman, a member of the cricket association.

The rules of blind cricket are based on the standard laws of cricket with some essential modifications. The major adaptation is the ball, which is significantly larger than a standard cricket ball and filled with ball bearings to provide audible cues. The size allows partially sighted players to see the ball and the contents allow blind players to hear it. The wickets are also larger, made of metal tubes painted in fluorescent colours, to allow partially sighted players to see and blind players to touch it in order to correctly orient themselves when batting or bowling.