First England centrally contracted disability player by 2030 as ECB look forward to bold new era

The England and Wales Cricket Board have set a target of the end of the decade for the first centrally contracted disabled player.

Head of disability cricket Ian Martin, one of the longest standing figures behind the scenes having arrived in 2007, oversees teams across four impairment groups.

Having lost momentum over the last two years due to Covid-19, all teams have been devoid of international exposure and limited to occasional runouts on home turf.

Opponents in 2021 included Cambridge University, Army Cricket Association and MCC - hardly tests worthy of teams with global dominance in mind.

But Martin is keen to make up for lost time, starting with achieving equality with the senior men's and women's sides by introducing central contracts.

"I would like to have that in place by 2029/30. I think that is achievable," he told The Cricketer.

"These guys are the pioneers of disability cricket in the same way Charlotte Edwards and her generation of female players were for the way the women's game has gone off the scale.

"It might be that these guys aren't the ones to benefit down the line but they're certainly going to play a pivotal role in getting us there."

Currently, the ECB believe 72,000 disabled people are playing cricket in some way or form across England and Wales. Football leads the way in team sports with six-figure participation figures and ambitions to grow that by 50 per cent in three years.

There is every chance that disability cricket could keep pace, with a potentially defining next 24 months coming into view.

From this weekend, the learning disability and deaf squads are in Ashes action in the International Inclusion Series against Australia.

^{Ian Martin (right) heads up disability cricket in England and Wales (Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)}

On June 10, the physical disability team face Lord's Taverners in a T20 match ahead of the Vitality Blast encounter between Worcestershire Rapids and Derbyshire Falcons at New Road.

August and September will see the introduction of the new Disability Premier League, a four-team competition which brings together three impairment groups (blind cricket is an entirely different format) under one umbrella in a structured competition for the first time.

Talks are underway with broadcasters Sky Sports for the final of the tournament, which is scheduled as a double-header alongside the women's T20 between England and India at Bristol, to be at least partially broadcast live.

Meanwhile, as part of their Equity, Diversity and Inclusion strategy, the MCC have committed to hosting a first disability match on the main square at Lord's in 2023.

And the following year will see the opening of the world's first inclusivity centre in Worcester which will become the national centre of excellence for disability cricket and help create a talent pathway.

It all starts in Brisbane this weekend with two series comprising 16 matches between June 5-14. The LD team are protecting an 8-0 series win from 2019, while the deaf players are travelling to Australia for the first time in 11 years.

After failures for England men and women over the winter, the disability teams are favourites to return home with cherished series wins in Australia.

"For our guys to go over there it is equally as difficult," Martin maintains.

Alex Jervis will be among the learning disability side in Australia (Clint Hughes/Getty Images)

"The level of competition is as strong even if the Australian teams might not be as talented as our guys the level of competition and an Ashes rivalry there are no easy games out there and it is a difficult place to go and win.

"The fact that we have done it regularly, hats off to our lads really and the character they show.

"But we can't take anything for granted out there, we have to go out and perform. You do that you give yourself the best chance of winning."

While the ECB are leading the conversation on disability cricket, many leading nations are either not fielding sides across all impairments or not yet committed by the benefits. There are cultural hurdles, too, and how those with disabilities are viewed.

Only five teams played the 2019 Physical Disability World Series and six attended the last Deaf World Cup. India's commitment, a crucial market for broadcasters and sponsors, also wavers. The sport hasn't caught the ICC's attention, either.

The hope is that the DPL can be a way of uniting the international game and become the framework for a fully inclusive Disability World Cup. Currently, each group has its own showcase every few years but there is no global event combining impairments.

"(An all-encompassing World Cup) is still on the table and we're still moving towards it," Martin added. "It is not for the want of trying or the ECB pushing it.

"But what we can't do is tell other countries how to run their national teams or what to invest in.

Blind cricket is the leading  (Sajjad Hussain/Getty Images)

"The DPL format seems to me to be the best format to make ground, getting on a level playing field. Different cultures have different beliefs around disability and its importance.

He added: "Pre-2012 there was a massive shift in this country in terms of disability sports. I don't think other countries have had that government push.

"It is not for us to tell the Indian government to follow our model. The cultural beliefs over there are very different. Similar with Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Australia are doing their bit."

The DPL is being described as the "heart" of the ECB's disability cricket strategy for the next 15 years. A new competition trying to bring a new audience and a fresh wave of interest might sound like a familiar tale, but this one may actually work.

The tournament will cost £250,000 - small fry compared to the £58.6 million for The Hundred - but it is a start. Martin will go back for more if year one proves successful, as last summer's trial games indicated.

Disability cricket is a notable omission from the brief of the ongoing Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) investigation, which is due to report later this year.

"You could look at it and say they haven't mentioned us so they don't care," Martin said. "I don't think that is the issue. They had specific issues that needed to be addressed around the time the commission was put in place.

"The fact that it hasn't looked at disability assures me people looking at our game think that we're doing a pretty good job in terms of inclusion.

Worcester is set to become the permanent home for England's disability set-up (Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

"I don't think we're perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But I'm not sure at the moment the disabled side of the game needs fixing."

If there is an area badly in need of speedy development, it is the women's game. There will be female representation in the DPL in the form of Middlesex D40 second XI captain Sue Benson, but it might be another five years before there is a stand-alone women's competition.

"We've got to see more females coming in," admitted Martin. "That is the major one.

"We've got to find the balance between supporting the female pathway but not exposing them when they get there.

"They've got to be able to hold their own. People might say it is a token female but that isn't the case. She's had to prove she is good enough to be there.

"When we sat down to talk about the female disabilities pathway, we're all of the view, including females, that they have to be of the standard of the DPL otherwise it dilutes the quality of the tournament.

"So hopefully, we'll see females in the domestic game will get stronger and stronger as the years go on and start feeding through to DPL.

"When we get to the stage where we've increased the size of the talent pool, we'll be able to work then at a separate female-only tournament and that is certainly the aspiration but we're not there yet."

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