Visually impaired cricket: Bradford VICC vs Yorkshire Vikings

For the Sunday morning journey to Bowling Old Lane Cricket Club to watch Bradford & District Visually Impaired Cricket Club (Bradford VICC) play Yorkshire Vikings, I took a taxi.

Fairly rare but I had heavy camera equipment, a dodgy hip and didn’t fancy the half-hour uphill climb on foot. It allowed for an entertaining chat about England vs Pakistan in cricket, the relative merits of the Ford Capri and the joys of visiting Canada and Norway.

To step through the open gates at Bowling Old Lane is to be transported from the residential streets of BD5 to a large, green oasis with white painted walls, fruit trees, potted plants and a palm or two.

Conversations were easily sparked up with Bradford VICC captain Arif Malik and Yorkshire Vikings’ skipper John Garbett (above, batting) who I haven’t seen for years. There’s that satisfying common ground with cricket where you pick back up with someone as if you met them last week.

Today had a few different angles; it was also a chance to meet and record a podcast with Kammy Siddique; the host club’s first-team captain and winner of our Yorkshire Tea Community Cricket Award for May.

Arriving with plenty of time, I got talking to the umpires Mark Grayling and Abdul Aziz who had travelled from Chesterfield and Rotherham respectively to officiate.

There are a multitude of rules in visually impaired cricket as those with varying sight classifications can bowl, catch and score runs in different ways. While it can take a bit to get your head around, it means that those who are blind and partially sighted take part together.

Mark and Abdul would be kept on their toes when this Northern Development League match got underway.

Don’t mistake development for uncompetitive. Matches like these allow those who are visually impaired to compete and they don’t hold back!

The umpires had the delicate balance as officials to embrace the spirit of fun and inclusion that comes with a development league while ensuring safety. No mean feat when you think about it.

I spend some time with Bradford VICC as they practice out in the middle and take their team photo in new kit provided by S66 Sportswear. Wholesale distributor Divchi are front and centre while MCP Environmental are on the back of the blue and yellow shirts (see below).

Sacha, a lively black labrador who belongs to Bradford keeper Shah is given her own shirt and proves herself accomplished at ball retrieval which is handy.

Speaking of colours… as you can note from these photos, players wear a specific coloured wristband to show their sight category: Purple or black for totals, yellow for low partials, green for mid partials and red for high partials.

When relying on hearing rather than sight during batting, I noticed players instinctively moved out of their crease to try to whack the ball. As you would.

However, those fielding with black armbands / known as ‘totals’ due to having no light perception and an inability to recognise shapes have to stand very close to the action.

If you can’t see it, the best chance to take a catch or prevent a boundary is to listen for impact of bat on ball; again, made much more difficult in windy conditions.

As a neutral observer relatively new to VI cricket, it’s something that stood out. There’s a definite bravery to being so close when the ball is smashed at high speed past your head in seconds.

I was told that umpires have to decide when to warn the batter to stop if they are very close to a fielder. There is a lot going on but the overriding reaction to watching visually impaired cricket is how impressive the players are.

It is as inclusive as you could ever get on a cricket field in the sense that there are a variety of ages, abilities and levels of eyesight all coming together.

A brief bit of background at this point.

In the five-team division, there are also sides from Manchester, Lancashire & Durham and Bradford VICC are hoping to continue a hot winning streak that has seen them win the title for three years in a row.

The Bradford club formed in 2017 with a lack of local opportunities to play VI cricket and they have found supportive home clubs in Great Horton Church and Bowling Old Lane.

The teams play with a size 3 football with carbon balls inside that make a sound to help the players. What struck me immediately was how difficult it would be to bowl.

Even in still conditions, it takes skill to bowl a football at a set of stumps with any accuracy. We had a brisk side wind whipping across the square that would make it challenging.

Bradford VICC won the toss and elected to field; a curious decision given you get an extra six overs by batting first but perhaps indicative of confidence in the bowlers to get the job done?

Usman Zahid struck first with a rapid, full-length delivery outside off stump that was edged to the keeper Shah. Zahid’s four-over spell of 2-3 was a stand-out.

Yorkshire Vikings’ total of 138-9 off 26 overs was competitive with Oliver Frost (20) and Helen Lawson (16) top-scoring for the visitors. Shah Micah (2-23), Andrew Egan (1-26) and Hamza Azim (3-26) were the other wicket-takers.

Another observation would be the number of cricketers on the field with runners, each wearing a distinctive orange bib, a frequent presence during a game. All ‘totals’ and ‘low partials’ must have a partially sighted runner when batting.

There is raucous laughter that reaches us from the middle; jokes between players and opposition are very much part and parcel of visually impaired cricket. The Bradford VICC team are intent on gently mocking each other and being around them, there’s an ease and camaraderie that is evident.

During the first innings, Kammy comes outside with a curry for me. The dhal and rice is served on my own table overlooking the game. Tasty, five-star service and I was very grateful being that lunch can get forgotten at a cricket match, as matches tend to start around 1pm.

We’ve already had a natter inside for the podcast about the fantastic work that Bowling Old Lane CC do on a number of fronts from women’s cricket to Over 50s and mixed ability sessions on a Tuesday evening.

In its 140th year, the club recently celebrated becoming an ECB Disability Cricket Champion Club. They are the first in the history of the Bradford Premier Cricket League.

As one of only ten such cricket clubs in Yorkshire with this accreditation, it’s further evidence of what Bowling Old Lane do to support those with a disability.

Tea is taken inside with two long tables adorned with food and a short speech from both captains which was a nice touch.

The batting reply from Bradford VICC is emphatic as they march to 142-4 off 15 overs to win by six wickets. Wicketkeeper Shah Miah, who I had clocked in the warm-up as a very capable batter, top-scores with 31, while Owais Majid (28), Usman Zahid (26 not out) and Arik Malik (22) all breach 20+ scores.

This being the Northern Development League; it is competitive but with an eye on giving players a chance with bat and ball to enjoy their cricket and develop their skills.

All nine bowlers get at least an over with Visrat Kumar (2-12) and Georgie Ridgeway (1-16) the wicket-takers along with a run out.

I spend some time on the boundary talking to Charlie, whose sons, Hugo (above) and Archie, are both playing for Yorkshire Vikings. Archie is accomplished at a range of sports, having just missed out on selection for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

A record-breaking swimmer, Archie now competes in martial arts with the ability to match himself against sighted opponents. He looks handy as a cricketer too while his younger brother gets a couple of overs later on.

As the game head towards its conclusion, I bid everyone farewell and decide to walk down into the city centre to get my train. It’s been the kind of life-affirming day that acts as a reminder how cricket can bring us all together.

Enjoy the photos below and you can learn more about Yorkshire VICC on Facebook as well as their Yorkshire Vikings Team Profile on Blind Cricket England & Wales.

This is a T20 at Horbury Bridge CC on Sunday 29 June between a women’s international development squad and a team of sighted female cricketers wearing simulation specs put together by Katie Stewart from Yorkshire Cricket Board (YCB).

Meanwhile, the Bradford VICC Website on Play-Cricket is a good starting point for them and I wish both squads all the best for the rest of their season.

You can read more Cricket Yorkshire articles on Visually Impaired Cricket here.

MATCH PHOTOS