South Australian Blind Cricket Club Inc.
Overview
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BLIND CRICKET
The Australian Blind Cricket Council was founded during visit to Brisbane by teams from Victoria and New South Wales in April 1951. Players and officials agreed that Australian Blind Cricket Championships should be arranged every two years. The Inaugural Australian Blind Cricket Council Cricket Tournament was held in Melbourne from the 29th December, 1 52 to the 5th of January 1953. Four states from Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland competed in the tournament. Victoria, who defeated Queensland in the final, won the tournament.The sport offers camaraderie and a chance to compete on equal terms for blind and partially sighted people. All players are registered blind or partially sighted. Of the eleven players in the team, at least four must be totally blind. The game of blind cricket is a version of the game which has been adapted so that it can be played by blind and partially sighted players. The pitch is made of concrete and measures the same length and width as used in sighted cricket. The boundaries are measured 40 metres in a circle around the pitch and indicated by a white line with orange witches hats at intervals. The current ball used is made of white plastic with metal washers inside to give the ball an audible sound when bowled or thrown. Inside this ball were bottle tops and lead weight to give the ball an audible sound when bowled or thrown. The original ball that was used in the first interstate blind cricket match in 1928 was made of cane wicker and it had metal pieces inside that made a noise when thrown.All bowling is in underarm. When fielding the ball can be returned either underarm or overarm. The bat is the same as used in sighted cricket. The stumps are made of metal and welded together and coloured either orange or yellow.
Modified Rules
The team of 12 comprises partially sighted players and totally blind players. The partially sighted players are further divided into Partially A and Partially B categories. The game of blind cricket is played double-ended in the same way as sighted cricket. The batsman is permitted a caller who will stand behind the wicket-keeper and may give the batsman a 'call' as to whether the ball is 'straight', 'off' or 'leg'. All forms of dismissal from sighted cricket apply except for catching. Partially sighted players who avoid going out when batting are obliged to retire after either scoring 40 runs. Similarly, a totally blind batsman must retire after facing 16 overs. Bowling restrictions also apply to categories of players. ie. A Partially A bowler may only bowl to a Partially A batsman, A Partially B bowler may bowl at a Partially B or Partially A batsman, and so on. The pitch has a line marked half way along its length. For a delivery to be legal, it must bounce on both sides of this line.
Club Report
Updated 11 August 2009 Hello everyone,
Cricket ReportAn extremely successful national training camp was held here in Adelaide from the 25th to 27th April 2009. A squad of twenty-five cricketers trained throughout these three days with five representatives from South Australia. Congratulations to Norton Armstrong and Kieran Murphy who participated in their first national training camp. We extend the most amount of luck to all five SA representatives on progressing forward to the next training camp in Brisbane, in late September.
A reminder to all, that everyone is welcome to attend blind cricket training, available at the Adelaide Oval every second Tuesday from 5,30 pm to 7,30 pm.