I grew up fast playing against the able-bodied

THIS WEEK... GORDON LAIDLAW Opening batsman Age:

36

Teams:

England Physical Disability, Sprotbrough

What is your story?

My first involvement was at my local cricket club, Sprotbrough in Doncaster. I had two older brothers – Richard and Stuart – who were mad keen on sport and played cricket in the summer.

When I was eight years old, I went to the club but we didn’t have an U9s team, so I had to play at U11s as a nine-year-old alongside able-bodied cricketers.

I’ve got mild Cerebral Palsy, so it was a challenge and I had to adapt my technique to be able to compete.

Playing with able-bodied players makes you grow up faster in terms of cricket, though, and having two older brothers helped me do that as well!

When did you first get involved in physical disability cricket?

I’ve been involved in mainstream cricket for at least 28 years now but I only really got involved in disability cricket in 2010, when I started playing for Yorkshire.

I was spotted playing club cricket on a Saturday and asked to come along to see what I thought.

Just about then was the time they were setting up a national physical disability cricket squad, so I managed to work through the ranks and get up the system to national level.

What’s your game?

Ever since I’ve played disability cricket I’ve been an opening batsman and I’ve opened the batting for England since 2010, when the physical disability team first started.

Funnily enough, when I was growing up, I was more of a bowling all-rounder but as I’ve got older, the bowling has gone to one side and the batting has taken over.

How did 2016 go for you?

We [England] had a tour to Dubai back October for a Tri-Series between ourselves, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

We won all our games bar the final against Pakistan who managed to get the runs they needed with four balls to spare of the final over.

That was disappointing but there are lots of positives – we have a strong nucleus of young players now.

Over the last couple of years we’ve had a few young lads come through who are getting stronger both physically and in terms of cricket knowledge.

What’s the focus now?

We’re building towards the summer of 2019 with the World Cup being held in England, which is mirroring the mainstream senior team.

That’s our aim and the work we’re putting in now is all with that 2019 World Cup in mind.

In 2017, we’ve got a summer full of fixtures. As a PD squad, we have fixtures against able-bodied county U17 or academy teams and we also have a game against an Army XI.

It’s all T20 and we focus on playing two T20s in a day because that’s often what happens at international tournaments.

We try to mirror what we do on the international stage against a good level of ablebodied competition that challenges us.

Is there anything else you’re up to?

I’m now managing the U9s at Sprotbrough. My eight-yearold son is playing down there and just starting out his cricket career.

He’s where I was all those years ago and now I’m helping get the next generation into playing cricket.

That’s new for me but brings back the memories of all those years ago.