Favourites too strong in second England Learning Disabilities outing

Having completed their first international match - and in fact the first ever full match that the England Learning Disabilities Tour team had played together - against their hosts South Africa, the squad were looking for a continued improvement against tri-nation tournament favourites Australia.

An injury to Doug Randall meant that John Taylor was the only change to the team from the previous defeat.

Overnight rain had greened up the wicket but having had covers in place the strip looked good to bat first on. England captain Lee Jay (left) won the toss and elected to do just that.

Openers Hughes and Saeed got off to a blistering start with Hughes taking seven off the first over. Saeed continued to hold up one end until getting a lifting ball to be caught behind.

This was the trigger that the Australian team needed as their bowlers then went through the rest of the England card with ease. An injury to Ronnie Abbott meant that he had to be taken to hospital for a check-up after receiving a blow to his stomach, but this was only a precaution and he returned to the ground by the end of the game.

England scorecard
A.Hughes caught 13
I.Saeed caught 0
M.O’Brian bowled 0
A.Aziz bowled 5
D.West caught 0
P.Brown Not Out 3
R.Abbott Retired Hurt 1
L.Jay bowled 0
B.Ali bowled 0
I.Ahmed bowled 0
J.Taylor bowled 0

Extras 7
Total 29

Although the above scorecard may look rather depressing there are a few factors that need to be made clear. Both of the opposition in the tournament have very strong regional competitions and in some cases players playing in mainstream clubs. This is only the second game that the England players have played together given the very short space of time they have had prior to the tour.

All of the squad play in the BACD Physical & Learning County Championship which currently use the ‘inncreadiball’ and not a hard ball.

The standard in the tournament is very high given the disability aspect but none of these are looked as excuses from the management team, only good can come from playing against this level of opposition and we now have a structure to build on for future development.

With two games left in the tournament the team will continue to gain from the chances to play at this level for there and the development of the game once they get back ready for next season.