Disability Premier League 2022: putting inclusion at the heart of cricket

ECB: What was the thinking behind the Disability Premier League?

Ian Martin: We saw how well The Hundred landed last year, in particular how successful it was at attracting new people into the sport, and we wanted to use some of that energy to benefit disability cricket. We wanted to create something aspirational for our domestic players, which would provide them with increased levels of competition; since each team in the league includes members of our international squads.

ECB: How is the DPL different to existing disabled cricket competitions?

IM: The DPL is pretty unique in that each team is made up of players from three different impairment groups: physical disability, learning disability, and deaf. Each team features a mixture of players with each impairment, and includes domestic players as well as the very best players from our international squads.

ECB: How does the DPL fit within the existing disability cricket pathway?

IM: It’s effectively sandwiched between our international programme, and the disability domestic programmes we have including the domestic County Championship. This gives County Championship players the chance to step up and pit themselves against the very best disabled cricketers in the country.

ECB: How does the competition promote inclusion?

IM: As well as the disabled players, we’ve been able to bring in volunteers, coaches, scorers and umpires from across the diversity spectrum. Our aim is to make the DPL the most inclusive tournament in the ECB portfolio, and we believe we are already on the path to doing that.

ECB: How does the tournament work?

Richard Hill: We’ve got four squads of 16 players each, 64 players overall. We ran a draft earlier this year with the coaches of each team who selected their squads. Each squad has roughly five players from each impairment, who are also tiered to ensure each team is as evenly balanced as possible.

ECB: And what’s the format?

RH: We’re going with a 20 over format this year. Each match day will have four games played on two ovals simultaneously, allowing each team to play each other twice. We’re delighted to have secured use of the County Ground, Bristol, for the final this year, which will take place before an England Women’s T20 versus India on 15 September.

ECB: What about women? Are there plans for a women’s DPL?

RH: We recognise that for us to move forward we do need to do more to welcome more women with a disability in to cricket. This year we have one woman who is playing in the DPL tournament, which is fantastic, but outside of that we have assembled a 16-strong group disabled women’s cricketers who are playing against a non-disabled women’s team at Loughborough on 27 August in a pilot game. We’ve so had many enquiries because of this match, which hasn’t even taken place yet, so we are hopeful that in 2023 we can look towards expanding and having a women’s DPL.

ECB: Who are the ones to watch at this year’s DPL?

RH: Josh Price is a real talent, who captains The Hawks. He’s a deaf player who performed well for England in Australia this year with bat and ball. George Greenway, the current England deaf captain and Black Cats all-rounder is also box office.

IM: Chris Edwards who captains the England Learning Disability team and bats for the Hawks is a solid cricketer; and Dan Bowser (Tridents), also from England Learning Disability, hits the ball a long way. But one of the really great things about this tournament is that all players will be able to showcase their talents and stake a claim for the national squads going forward.

ECB: Are spectators welcome at the games?

RH: Yes, absolutely. The group games are all free to attend, and refreshments will be available, but seating is limited so please do bring your own. You can see the venues and dates in the fixture calendar at the bottom of this blog. For the final, we are currently working on a ticketing option and we hope to provide an update on this on the ECB website shortly. For those that can’t make it to the games, all will be livestreamed on the ECB website and YouTube channel.

ECB: And finally, where do we go from here?

RH: In the DPL we now have an established brand for disability cricket in England and Wales which we can use to develop the game at all levels, including softball cricket (for players who might not be able to break into the main pathway.) We’re looking at establishing an indoor softball tournament that would sit under the DPL brand, as well as taking disability cricket into SEND schools.

IM: We’re confident that this format is scalable. Hopefully as part of next steps we can attract some commercial sponsorship and continue to grow the game in England and Wales. The dream would be to see it being replicated in other countries, leading the way for future international disability tournaments, sooner rather than later.

Remaining group games - free to attend