Aussies told me I was ‘not deaf enough’
PAUL ALLEN
Former deaf England captain turned aspiring coach
Age: 32 Teams: England
What’s your story?
It wasn’t until age five when the hospitals confirmed my deafness, and from there I struggled to come to terms with it. I was bullied through school, but when I was 17 I got invited to a session with England Deaf Cricket in Sheffield.
At that time I’d not interacted with the deaf community and it was difficult – everyone was signing and I couldn’t cope. I had to walk out of the session. I was eventually encouraged to stay and the rest is history!
How did that develop to playing with England?
I stayed with the team and we stuck together as a unit and, when I was 18, we had a tour to Australia. It was a 24-hour flight on which captain Umesh Valjee spent the whole time teaching me sign language.
We didn’t sleep at all, and bearing in mind this was the first time I’d left home too, this was a massive moment for me. The year after we made the final of the World Cup which was huge, too.
Quite a few years later, I took the armband off Umesh – he was the best man at my wedding and a fantastic bloke, so it was such an honour to lead him out and lead my country onto the pitch.
When did you come to terms with your deafness?
It wasn’t until I met my wife, Rachel, when I was well into playing with England, that I became involved with the community.
Her support meant the world; we moved to Derby and I became someone who was proud to be deaf and wear a hearing aid. That was a massive moment for me. Was it all a high from there? Absolutely not. In 2008 came one of the worst moments of my life. Australia came over for the Ashes and, an hour before the first Test, my audiogram was questioned and I was withdrawn from the series.
At that point, coming to terms with my deafness, and then being told I ‘wasn’t deaf enough’ was a huge kick in the teeth and one of the lowest moments of my life. I’d invested so much time and England had invested so much effort in me and it was a bitter pill to swallow.
Three years later I went to Australia – to play again – and I took seven wickets in the first innings and 11 in the match. I was still quite bitter at that point having missed out in 2008, so it was sweet revenge.
Where has life taken you after cricket?
I’m still involved in the sport, looking to get my coaching badges, but originally it was hard to take not playing anymore. I’m thankful to the ECB and (head of disability cricket) Ian Martin for giving me a chance, but now a big aim of mine is to help others who may have been reluctant like me.
The deaf community is very proud, but with people getting new cochlear implants there are a lot of people who are in mainstream life who aren’t so familiar.
For some people, being invited into playing deaf cricket can be quite intimidating, so it would be nice if people can relate to my initial struggle and I’ll hopefully be an inspiration for them going forward.