Players from three different impairment groups will play together in the first global tournament of its kind in August and September, after a successful trial last year
Disability cricket will break new ground in England this summer with the formal introduction of a multi-impairment competition.
The 20-over Disability Premier League brings together deaf players alongside those with physical and learning disabilities in a structured competition for the first time.
Four newly-formed teams will play a double-round robin format across three dates on August 28 at Loughborough's NCPC, and on September 4 and 11 at Wokingham and Neston Cricket Clubs.
It will culminate in a final on September 15, which is scheduled as a double-header alongside the women's T20 between England and India at Bristol.
Broadcasters Sky Sports are in talks with the England and Wales Cricket Board to carry the game live to help boost the tournament's exposure.
"The way I sold it to the ECB was that I want it to be the most diverse tournament they run, as part of their portfolio of national competitions," Ian Martin, the ECB's head of disability cricket told The Cricketer.
Ian Martin has been in place as the ECB's head of disability cricket since 2007 (Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
"We've got LQBTQ coaches, South Asian coaches, female players, umpires and scorers.
"One of the coaches (Duncan Green) is a veteran from Afghanistan. So we're hitting everything in one tournament.
"By doing that we're celebrating the diversity of the sport and proving that people with disabilities can operate at a high level and hopefully showcasing talent across three impairment groups."
Four new teams, Blacks Cats, Hawks, Tridents and Pirates, played over three low-key days last year - similar to The Hundred trials in 2018 - to establish the competition format and prove it was worth further investment and from 2022 it will become a formal part of the cricketing summer.
Particular attention was paid to whether any particular group of players were overly advantaged over another, but officials were satisfied with what they saw.
Disability Premier League 2022 schedule
Sunday, August 28: National Cricket Performance Centre, Loughborough
Sunday, September 4: Sadlers End - Wokingham Cricket Club, Sindlesham
Sunday, September 11: Parkgate Cricket Ground - Neston Cricket Club, Cheshire
Thursday, September 15 - Final: Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol
The tournament essentially replaces the England Lions in the disability pathway, providing a link between counties and the senior team. The ECB have committed around £250,000 to stage the competition - a drop in the ocean compared to the £58.6 million it cost for the first year of The Hundred.
A player draft to determine the make-up of the four 16-strong squads was conducted on Monday (May 9). Sixty-four players were played in four tiers based on ability and experience, before being selected by the four DPL head coaches, who had to select four players from each tier and couldn't pick consecutive players with the same impairment.
The ECB hope to introduce a dedicated women's competition within three to five years, but there will be female representation in the form of Middlesex D40 second XI captain Sue Benson who has been drafted by Hawks.
Pan-disability cricket is played nationally but the ECB believe this is the first time three different tiers of impairment have played together in a structured tournament. It is also hoped overseas players to grace future editions.
Visually impaired cricketers will not be represented in the DPL due to the difference in the formats.
England are due to return to international action in June for the first time in two-and-a-half years (Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
England quartet Jonny Gale (Black Cats), Anthony Clapham (Pirates), Liam O'Brien (Tridents) and Josh Price (Hawks) have been confirmed as captains, while each squad is flooded with international players.
LD skipper Chris Edwards will play for the Hawks while the leader of the deaf side George Greenway, the No.1 draft pick, will represent Black Cats. Umesh Valjee, 52, is also involved for the Pirates team.
The tournament rounds off a busy summer for the disability England sides. The deaf, blind and learning disability teams are off to Australia for an Ashes series comprising eight matches each, three ODIs and five of T20Is, between June 1-15 in Brisbane.
The physical disability side are due to face a Lord's Taverners XI at New Road as part of a double-header before the T20 Blast match between Worcestershire and Derbyshire on June 10 at New Road.
Disability Premier League 2022 squads:
Black Cats: Jonny Gale (c), Angus Brown, Daniel Levey, Dan Reynaldo, George Greenway, Hugo Hammond, James Nordin, James O'Connor, Jordan Williams, Luke Riley, Maddox Colby, Martin Henderson, Mike O'Mahony, Moazzam Rashid, Tayler Young, Umar Khan
Pirates: Anthony Clapham (c), Alex Jervis, Ali Layard, Andrew Mowatt, Cameron Cooper, Dan Hamm, F. Mohammad, Henry Wainman, Jai Charan, Jordan Dore, Joe Freestone, Jake Oakes, Liam Thomas, Ronnie Jackson, Umesh Valjee, Will Flynn
Tridents: Liam O'Brien (c), Asif Abbasi, Ben Sutton, Ben Tyler, Dan Bowser, Elliot Brown, Jamie Clarke, James Dixon, Jamie Goodwin, Joel Harris, Jack Perry, Kyle Clayton, Kieran McKinney, Matt Askin, Matt Bailey, Tom Wilson
Hawks: Josh Price (c), Alex Hammond, Alfie Pyle, Chris Edwards, Callum Flynn, Fred Bridges, Jack Lofthouse, James Schofield, Kevin Baker, Kester Sainsbury, Mike Weathersby, Nathan Caddell, Robert Hewitt, Sue Benson, Stephen George, Sammy Kumar
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.