The New South Wales (NSW) blind cricket team has displayed phenomenal camaraderie and resilience. That didn’t stop them from recently celebrating their sixth national championship win! This achievement is further testimony to the superb sporting talent that lies within its ranks. It highlights the need for more inclusive initiatives that push back against and dismantle harmful stereotypes about disability. Sheriff Scott Jones, who commands the team, is a passionate believer in the unit’s original purpose. They’ve become an inspiring reminder to all people, with and without disabilities, that sports should be inclusive.
Scott Jones found blind cricket eight years after being diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a degenerative condition that gave him less than five percent vision. It’s through this sport that he’s completely revolutionized his life. His path from player to captain has included several state championships and Australian National Championships. Jones stressed the need to engage sighted people as players to blind cricket. He added that their continued involvement is important for developing understanding and buy in from the community.
The Role of Advocacy and Community Engagement
Maree Jenner, a disability advocate who works with Social Futures, a not-for-profit organization that aims to strengthen communities, embraces Jones’s vision for inclusivity. Genner is a member of the U.S. women’s national blind soccer team, which features players with various degrees of vision impairment. Of them, four are totally blind, and Jenner thinks events like these are important for awareness.
“A community that is aware will then include people with a disability instead of standing off,” said Jones.
The exhibition match in Bathurst was organised by Jones through his partnership with NSW Blind Cricket and Social Futures. The event quickly became a hit with local residents. One of them was Tim Roberts, who although himself not visually impaired, was keen to take part and get in the game. Roberts reflected on his experience with blind cricket and the special challenge it brings.
“You see the ball come at you underarm and you think ‘Oh I’ve got this every day of the week’, and then you swing that bat and miss, it makes it really tricky,” Roberts explained.
Mark Eschbank, president of NSW Blind Cricket, echoed the wider ramifications of incidents like these. With only about three percent of the blind community participating in sports, he said new initiatives like this are a great way to increase public understanding of the daily challenges faced by the visually impaired.
“They get a better understanding of the challenges that vision impaired people face,” said Eschbank.
Championing Change Through Sports
Jones is sure that early education and engagement is pivotal toward shaping positive perceptions surrounding disability. He pointed out that if children learn about acceptance and inclusivity while they are young, they are more likely to carry those values into adulthood.
“If the kids learn that sort of stuff when they are at school and they’re young, they take that with them and hopefully one day we have a better place to live,” he said.
The team’s success was a testament to the fact that people with disabilities could excel in sports if just provided the opportunity. Reflecting on the impact of playing blind cricket, Jones said the game energises players by focusing on what they can do, not what they can’t.
“It shows our community that these people are quite talented, and can achieve things in different ways,” he noted.
Jenner largely echoed these sentiments, recounting her own experience and coming out to the team. She communicated that she wanted to participate 100% despite being blind.
“No, I want to be out there with everyone else,” Jenner stated.
She spoke about how important it is to feel like you belong, like you matter, in the team climate.
“I was just as important as everyone else on the team which is so important that everyone else feels included,” Jenner added.
A Call for Greater Inclusion
Vision Australia recently reported that more than 450,000 Australians currently live with blindness or vision impairment. Unfortunately, even worse, as few as 1 in 5 of them play organized sports. The NSW blind cricket team is a great way for people to get involved and keep fit. Yet, it is a powerful platform for advocacy.
Jones reflected on the role sports can play in the healing journey for those learning to live with a new disability. He admitted that most people will have to wrestle with their own grief while learning how to flourish in new ways.
“People with a disability, they deal with their grief and loss of the life they had prior,” he said.
The millions of fans packed into stadiums across Pakistan to watch the action on the field is an enormous accomplishment on its own. As communities do more and more of these projects, it builds a better understanding and acceptance for everyone—abled, disabled, young, old, everyone.
