Kent Cricket Board welcomes live streaming of England Physical Disability T20 matches

Kent Cricket Board are delighted to have learnt that the ECB intends to stream England’s Physical Disability T20 international matches against Pakistan. The Board is committed to providing everyone in Kent with the opportunity to play, watch and follow cricket.

Alex Farmer, Kent Cricket Board’s lead for Disability Cricket commented on the announcement; “This is fantastic news from the ECB following the recent live streaming of the Women’s Ashes.

“In Kent, we believe passionately in giving everyone in our communities the opportunity to play, watch and follow cricket. Our disability programme continues to grow, with coaching in specialist schools, new disability clubs in the community, and also providing a pathway for talented players to represent Kent in our county teams and progress to England honours.

“Kent’s disability county teams in 2014 will play competitive cricket against other counties, and any players with visual, physical or learning disabilities can get involved.’’

England’s Physical Disability squad departed for a fourteen-day tour to the United Arab Emirates yesterday, where they will play three Twenty20 Internationals and three One Day Internationals against the Pakistan Disability team.

All six matches will be played at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai, and in a historic first, the three T20s on March 21 and 22 will be streamed live around the world on the ECB’s YouTube channel.

Speaking about the live video stream, ECB’s Head of Disability Cricket, Ian Martin, said:

“The live streaming of the T20 Internationals between the physically disabled teams of England and Pakistan is a first for the ECB and will take disability cricket to a whole new audience both at home and hopefully across the world.

“Cricket is one of the most popular team sports globally yet its profile as a sport for disabled people is not so strong. ECB have been leading the way in the development of the sport for people with all types of disabilities for a number of years and this is further evidence of our commitment to take the game to a new level.”

England Physical Disability captain, Jimmy Williams, added:

“It is brilliant news that our three T20 Internationals against Pakistan in Dubai will be live streamed exclusively on the ECB website and YouTube channel. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase physical disability cricket to a new audience, and I cannot wait to get onto the field, and show everyone what we can do. “

The tour to the UAE will be the second time that England’s Physical Disability team has contested an official international series against their counterparts from Pakistan, following the team’s inaugural tour to the UAE in 2012. On that occasion Pakistan proved to be too strong, as Williams’ England side went down 2-0 in the T20 series and subsequently lost the ODIs 2-1.

UAE tour schedule in full (all matches to be played against the Pakistan Physical Disability team):

Date Format Venue

21.3.14 (am) 1st T20* ICC Global Cricket Academy

21.3.14 (pm) 2nd T20* ICC Global Cricket Academy

22.3.14 3rd T20* ICC Global Cricket Academy

24.3.14 1st ODI ICC Global Cricket Academy

27.3.14 2nd ODI ICC Global Cricket Academy

29.3.14 3rd ODI ICC Global Cricket Academy

*Live video stream available to watch on www.youtube.com/ecbcricket and www.ecb.co.uk