Second ECAD T20 tournament set to open more doors for deaf cricket

The England Cricket Association for the Deaf (ECAD) will stage its second annual Deaf T20 Cup cricket tournament next week. An event which promises to open up further new opportunities for deaf cricketers in the UK.

The event will be staged at Rokeby School Playing Fields, River Hill, Old Malden in Surrey, on Sunday 5 July. The event will see two teams from Surrey Deaf, along with teams from Lancashire Deaf and Nottinghamshire Deaf compete in a knock-out tournament scheduled to be played across the day.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s action, Darren Talbot, ECAD Development Officer, said:

'We are really excited to have three counties attending the event this year which highlights the great progress made over the past 12 months having just had Surrey and Lancashire at last year’s inaugural event.
'With Surrey now able to field two teams too, we will have nearly 50 Deaf county cricketers taking part in 2015.'

The ECAD T20 Cup gets underway at 10.30am with the semi-finals being played between Lancashire Deaf and a Surrey Deaf 2nd XI, and Surrey Deaf and Nottingham Deaf.

The winners of those two ties will face each other in the Final at 2.30pm, with a 3rd and 4th place play-off also scheduled for the semi-final losers at the same time.

ECAD Development Officer, Darren Talbot looks forward to the annual tournament becoming an established event in the sporting calendar for deaf people. Darren added:

'For 2016 we hope to welcome a fourth county team as we continue to grow deaf cricket across the UK.'

For further information on the ECAD T20 Cup cricket tournament and other activities from England Deaf Cricket, visit www.englanddeafcricket.co.uk.

UK Deaf Sport is the National Disability Sports Organisation for deaf and hard of hearing people. They provide advice and support to enable more deaf prople to participate and reach their full potential in sport. For more information visit the UK Deaf Sport website.