In a historic first, the Mother City is hosting the first international Blind Cricket series. The series consists of five T20 matches and two one day international matches which will run up until 14 February. Blind cricket is a version of the sports of cricket adapted for blind and partially sighted players. Mayoral committee members for community services and health, Zahid Badroodien, said cricket is a very popular sport in Cape Town and now the opportunity has been given for blind cricket matches to take place in this mother city.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for the city. Last night we hosted the welcoming ceremony for both the South African and New Zealand teams at the Civic centre. Blind cricket is growing support among the visually impaired community,” said Badroodien.

Badroodien emphasized that blind cricket consists of visually impaired individuals, some who are fully visually impaired and partially visually impaired. The difference in blind cricket is the sound that the ball makes and the clicking of fingers to hear where the other players are. The crickets play on the field with no support and use sound to play the game.

In 1998, South Africa won the blind cricket tournament in India. Badroodien said that the tournament that is being held now would give them a chance to identify talent for next year’s 2021 World Cup. Cape Town has an active blind cricket team. He is hoping that they can bring the Cup back to South Africa.

He urged listeners to show support to the blind cricket team. The matches can be attended free of charge or the matches can be viewed on YouTube. This game for visually impaired individuals gives youth a chance to participate in sports and physical activity. It does not make them feel like they are at a disadvantage.

“It is quite rare to host such a game in Cape Town. It shows that Cape Town is a caring community. Internationally, it is a trend to not make the disabled community feel like they are separated from the larger community,” said Badroodien.

The matches started on 4 February at the Bellville Cricket club, while the matches from the 5th to the 7th will be at the Vineyard Oval. The fourth match will take place on Sunday, 9 February at the Bellville Cricket club, followed by Monday’s match at the Vineyard Oval.

The sixth match being the ‘International 1 day’ match takes place on Wednesday, 12 February at the Victoria Cricket club; it starts at 9. The last match takes place on Friday, 14 February at Bellville Cricket club. Please note all the matches starts at 10am except the ‘International 1 day’ matches which are the last two matches of the Blind cricket series.

For more information contact Zahid Badroodien on 072 639 5773.