Coach Lucy Tillotson (Hampshire) and players Ravi Chahal (Northumberland), Sebbie Hall (Staffordshire) and Matthew Clark (Hertfordshire) were all celebrated for their achievements and personal development over the last 12 months.
As part of the awards ceremony, all four met England men’s all-rounder Sam Curran, England Deaf and Mixed Disability all-founder Josh Price, and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.
And all four have inspired the cricketing community with their remarkable efforts.
Lucy was given the Inspire Award after successfully managing and coaching Hampshire’s female disability cricket group, the ‘Adders’, for more than two years.
She says: “When I first started, I didn’t feel my coaching ability was great. Was I going to be able to get these participants to understand the rules of the game? Then, all of a sudden, I realised that’s not important.
“Cricket is the vehicle. If they’re laughing, I’ve achieved my goal. I have no background in cricket, but I’m using cricket to get the girls, and the Fareham hub, to do things they didn’t think they could do.”
Twelve-year-old Ravi, who lives with a rare form of blindness called Lebers Congenital Amarousis, is using Super 1s to show his true potential. He was presented with the Inclusion Award.
Ravi says: “Batting is my favourite part of the game. I can tell if I’ve hit it well. I can just feel the ball on the bat.
“I would be really depressed if I couldn’t play. What I don’t want is people saying, ‘oh that poor boy.’ What I want them to think is that I just do stuff in a different way to how people with sight do.”
He adds: “Super 1s has given me confidence. It’s not just all about cricket. It’s about having conversations with people. It means a lot to me.”
England player Mark Wood has witnessed Ravi’s talents at first hand. He says: “Ravi’s an amazing character, his depth of cricket knowledge is unbelievable, and his skill level for someone who’s visually impaired blew me away. Cricket is safe if you can find more people like Ravi.”
Staffordshire Super 1s participant Sebbie, who lives with physical and communication difficulties due to a rare chromosome anomaly, received the Empower Award.
His fundraising work through thousands of acts of kindness has received widespread praise for its impact on all parts of his local community.
“I’ve made a lot of friends at cricket,” he says. “I’ve now raised £100,000.”
Hertfordshire Super 1s participant Matthew, another Inspire Award winner at the awards ceremony, lives with Sturge Weber Syndrome.
“Super 1s is the best thing I do for socialising,” he says. “Everyone makes me feel so welcome and it’s helped to give me another opportunity of playing something that I really enjoy.
“Being one of the senior people, I can help other younger disabled people who are also going through difficulties and be a role model. I’m proud to come through my disabilities and now I want to help others.”
His motto is simple. “Don’t think about what you can’t do,” he says, “because there are a lot of things that you can do in life.”
For more information on Disability Cricket, visit: https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/disability-cricket
For more information on Lord’s Taverners and Super 1s, visit: https://www.lordstaverners.org/super1s