Being with Joe, EoinandHeather meant so much

Age: 36 Clubs: England Physical Disability, Chester-le-Street

What is your story? I lost my foot at 16 months old due to a birth deformity but my family are cricket mad and put a bat in my hands from when I could walk. I played mainstream cricket for Chester-le-Street and school cricket – and I was with Durham up to U19s level – but it was not until I reached 32 that I played disability cricket because the infrastructure wasn’t there. How was the official England Cricket kit launch earlier this week? It was great to see the official England colours unveiled and seeing the excitement around that. The full change of branding and sponsor from adidas and Waitrose to New Balance and NatWest shows a bright future and the kit is certainly very bright! There are changes to the kit in terms of colour and I am sure there are changes in the technological side as well. Most importantly, it still has the Three Lions on the shirt and that is what you are playing for. What do you think about the state of disability cricket in England? With there being a visually impaired tournament this summer in England, it is great that there is more being played in this country. As soon as that tournament begins, the powers that be can concentrate on securing our tour. Just being at the launch alongside Eoin Morgan, Joe Root and Heather Knight as well as the three other disability captains, just shows the money and the time being spent on the game across the various disability sides. It is fantastic for us that we are put on the same pedestal as the other sides – that will help us grow our game so the ECB deserve the plaudits for that. What are your thoughts ahead of the new season? Coming to the launch means that it really hits home that the new season is starting soon. I was particularly looking at the jumper at the launch because they are always essential up in the North East while playing cricket! We are full of excitement ahead – in late May, we start our campaign in preparation for our tour at the end of the year. So there is a huge amount of anticipation for the ten or 12 games that we have lined up this year. Where could you be touring in the winter? The tour that is lined up is currently scheduled for November and December and it is likely to be in India – we are still waiting on confirmation of that. It is likely to be a triangular series tournament with ourselves, Bangladesh and India. We are fairly certain it is going to happen and that we will be playing in Mumbai. It is exciting that we have the chance to go out there because when the Visually Impaired England side went out there a few weeks ago, they had 20,000 people watching – the hope is we get that sort of number in as well.