ECB CEO Proposes National Disability Teams to BCCI

In an attempt to increase the popularity of cricket among the public, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) secretary Richard Gould wrote to his BCCI counterpart, secretary Jay Shah, suggesting the formation of two national disability teams: one for the visually impaired (blind) and one for the physically challenged, intellectually challenged, and hearing impaired.

Although the Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI), a subcommittee of the Board of Cricket Council of India (BCCI), exists in India, the Indian board does not independently host any tournaments.

Gould is expected to take part in the Chief Executives Meet at the ICC Annual Conference in Colombo, where there will be conversations on the sides.

“We propose boards operate two international teams — a blind XI as a standalone format and then a pan-disability format with squads consisting of deaf, intellectually impaired and physically disabled cricketers. We would be keen and willing to host the inaugural pan-disability tournament involving our five nations in 2025. The ICC are keen to show collective support for this approach to ensure any steps are member driven,” Gould wrote in a letter, also addressed to Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley, PCB COO Salman Naseer, and CSA CEO Phletsi Moseki. A copy of the letter is with PTI.

In fact, Gould has addressed that the “global disability cricket is unstructured, unregulated and often unsupported”.

“There are many different codes of disability cricket — blind, deaf, intellectual impairment and physical disability and there has been widespread lack of co-ordination and strategy that sits across all four.

“This has not been an area of sport we have collectively prioritised and although financial restraints are felt as prevalently now as ever, now is the time for us to come together to turbocharge the disability game,” Gould further wrote.

There are 1.3 billion (130 crore) individuals with various disabilities living in the world today, and according to Gould, this is an untapped market that has to be reached.

As the liaison between his committee and the BCCI, it has been learned that Ravi Chauhan, the head of the DCCI, would be visiting Sri Lanka to participate in talks.

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