Oh brother, it’s been great to be alongside Ed
Age: 19 Team: England Visually Impaired & Somerset
How did it feel to make your England debut during the World Cup earlier this year?
It was my first tour, which was kind of scary, but it was really good. We have the best B3 category players in the world but prior to the World Cup I was moved down to B2 as my sight got worse, which meant I was in a better position to be selected. It’s part of the condition I have, juvenile macular degeneration, you keep losing your sight until it plateaus. I was over the moon to play for England, when I first played red-ball cricket I wanted to play for England more than anything. To get to do that was an honour especially where I’ve been around the team before but missed out on selection.
You played alongside your brother Edward during the tournament, how was that?
My brother and I are very close, from as early as I can remember we played together in the back garden. Ed could not play red ball cricket when he lost his sight but started visually impaired cricket instead and that brought me into it. He’s a great person to talk to about the cricket, we have always loved playing cricket and playing in the World Cup with him was really good. I have tried to be there for him as well, we are a close family, and our parents came out to India to watch us.
What difference will having Ross Hunter as a full-time coach for the VI team make?
We are starting to move into a new programme where we have one-on-one training with coaches. It’s moving into player-driven training, working on individual things with our own Strength and Conditioning (S&C) programme, specific targets to get us as good as possible. It’s incredible for the ECB to step up and employ Ross as full-time coach. There’s a lot more opportunities for us to improve and it does give you a push to make some goals for yourself and really understand what you need to improve on. It’s a great asset for us.
What cricket have you got lined up for the coming summer?
Across the summer England have lots of practice games, about one or two a month against sighted teams where we can work on stuff. I start the season with two games for Somerset this weekend against London Metro, one in the league and one in the cup. Playing for Somerset is great fun, it’s an environment I really enjoy playing in and it’s nice to see and play against England players in the other teams, it’s a great rivalry to have. Matt Dean and Gareth Jones, who made his England debut in the World Cup like me, both play for London Metro which should be a good challenge.