Cricket is challenging at the best of times, but take away what is arguably a cricketer’s most vital sense – their vision – and it becomes an entirely different ball game.
So how do you play blind cricket? And just how different is it to the version of cricket most people are familiar with?
How does it work?
There are 11 players with varying levels of sight in each team. Teams are required to have at least four totally blind players on the field (classified as B1), with the rest of the team consisting of three partially blind players (B2) and four partially sighted players (B3).
Blind cricket has been played in Australia for more than 100 years, and was invented in Melbourne in 1922, when players first used cans with rocks inside as makeshift balls.
The game has come a long way since then – 17 blind cricketers in the Australian squad are playing against England for the current Blind Ashes Series on the Gold Coast. The first of three ODIs took place on Sunday, November 17, followed by five T20 matches, with the series to wrap up on November 26. Australia won the first of the ODIs, with the next two being called off due to inclement weather.
Australian Blind Cricket players Steffan Nero and Lincoln Muddle.Credit: Paul Harris
How is it different?
Blind cricket is based on the standard laws of international cricket, with some key modifications. The game uses bigger balls made of hard white plastic, with ball bearings inside to give players auditory cues. Stumps are also larger and are painted white or in fluorescent colours.
In this game, verbal signals are king – apart from bowling underarm instead of overarm, players must shout “play” as they release the ball to alert the batsman. Deliveries must bounce twice if the batsman is totally blind, and at least once if the batsman is partially blind. Once the ball makes contact with the bat, the wicketkeeper will usually be the first to call out fielding positions to help fielders work out the general direction the ball is travelling, before narrowing it down further.
Lincoln Muddle and Steffan Nero.Credit: Paul Harris
“You’ll say left, five metres, right, five metres, or down as well … which is telling them to drop because it’s coming to their side … It comes down to the fielding position, and then the person, then left, right, or drop,” explains Australian batter Steffan Nero.
There are also fewer spin bowlers in blind cricket, and the fastest bowling speeds are lower, at about 90-110km/h. Batsmen also take a knee and sweep when batting instead of standing, and don’t wear batting pads (although some wear knee pads or shin guards) as it’s difficult to play sweep shots with them in the way. Helmets typically aren’t worn because they limit peripheral vision, but wicketkeepers and B1 players may do so for protection.
Players with better sight are placed in the fielding zones where balls are more likely to get hit, and they’re also more likely to be wicketkeepers.
What makes it difficult?
In Nero’s words, blind cricket is a complicated, interconnected game – there are countless variables that teams have to juggle due to varying sight levels between players, which makes skills such as adaptability, teamwork and timing more important.
“The biggest thing that ties it all together is communication … If you don’t communicate as a team, you won’t be aware of anything,” Nero says.
Lincoln Muddle is one of three uncapped members in the squad making his debut for Australia during this Ashes series. An accident when he was 23 years of age left him blind, but it hasn’t stopped him from pursuing his cricket dream.
“The skill level, the timing that you need to play this game – it’s the most difficult game I’ve ever had to play, and wrapping your head around doing it without vision is something I’ve probably struggled at times with, but I persevered,” he says.
In the absence of perfect vision, timing and teamwork become the most important factors, says Muddle.
“If you hear that ball incorrectly, and you swing that bat early, you’re going to get out, and there’s no second chances,” Muddle says. “Especially with limited vision, you don’t have time to even make a mistake, you need to be perfectly positioned.
“If your reflexes and timing aren’t down, and you dive for that ball [in the field] – and it’s happened to me a few times – it might just go inches past your fingertips, or it might go under your body before you hit the ground. It’s heartbreaking sometimes, but there’s always someone backing you up, that’s the brilliant thing.”
Science also shows that if one sense is at a lowered capacity, the remaining senses are heightened, which makes blind cricketers more sensitive to sounds that could interfere with their playing.
“Even a plane flying overhead, it’s so disorienting and distracting, and you need to focus on those things and still get your job done,” Muddle says.
What blind cricketers want you to know
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about blind cricket is that it is slow, Nero says.
“It’s actually a very fast-paced game, and people don’t realise it until they watch at a higher level,” he says. “It’s rapid; everyone’s moving, everyone’s doing something all the time. It’s definitely not something that you just stand around in.”
On top of a vision impairment, people may not realise the true fatigue the game brings, especially with glare from the sun involved.
“It does take a lot out of you because you have to strain your eyes to a much higher degree to see, especially trying to track a ball on a sunny day.”
So who is blind cricket’s equivalent to Shane Warne?
Nathan Lyon, one of the most successful bowlers in Test cricket, says both Oscar Stubbs, known for his fielding skills, and batsman Nero are “absolutely incredible”.
Nero, who was born with two visual impairments, broke a 24-year world record in 2022 when he scored 309 off 140 balls in an International Cricket Inclusion Series match against New Zealand.
The talent pool and growing presence of the sport on the international stage will only expand with increased awareness and coverage of the sport, says Lyon, who is an ambassador for the sport.
“The more people viewing it, and the more people supporting the guys out there representing our country, the game’s only going to grow,” Lyon says. “And the more people play, the better off cricket is.”
And his dream? To see blind cricketers represent Australia on home turf at the Paralympic Games in 2032.
“That would be my dream, and one of my goals to see that – I think that would be incredibly special for everyone involved,” he says.
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