Kent player in England VI squad

Kent's Rob Comber will represent England's Visually Impaired (VI) squad in May as they take on India in a six-match series.

Comber founded the Kent Spitfires VI Cricket Club (pictured above) in 2010 which has been progressively developing year on year.

The club welcomes players of all abilities and levels of visually impairments in categories B1 to B4 and is based at The County Ground, Beckenham for all training and home matches.

The Spitfires entered the BCEW Development League South and West in 2014 and whilst only able to fulfil a couple of games, renewed governance structure and appointments have been put in place during winter 2014 to ensure 2015 is more successful.

ECB’s Head of Disability Ian Martin said: “These are exciting times for disability cricket with the need for more international disability cricket matches a key strategic priority for ECB.

“We are certainly meeting that challenge with national squads being involved in three series in the next three months. Selection for all of the squads has been tough with many talented players missing out on selection which is great credit to the work being done at all levels of our pathway to increase the talent pool."

After reaching the semi-finals of the Blind World Cup in South Africa before Christmas the England Visually Impaired team are preparing for the challenge of hosting defending champions India on home soil in May.

Commenting on the squad and upcoming series Ross Hunter, Head Coach said: “We are very excited by the potential of this squad and delighted they will get the opportunity to play at iconic cricket venues like the The Kia Oval and Arundel.

"There is a mix of experience and youth in the squad, and intense training over the next few months will focus on challenging current techniques and ways of doing things to take the group to the next level.”

England Visually Impaired India series squad: Matt Dean (London Metro, ODI Captain), Luke Sugg (Warwickshire Bears, T20 captain), Peter Blueitt (Yorkshire VICC), Rob Comber (Kent), Kelvin Duncan (Sussex Sharks), Dan Field (Sussex Sharks), Nathan Foy (Warwickshire Bears), Justin Hollingsworth (Warwickshire Bears), Ed Hossell (Somerset VICC), Hassan Khan (London Metro), Mahomed Khatri (Warwickshire Bears), Si Ledwith (Sussex Sharks), Josh Nonet-Black (Surrey), James Millard (Sussex Sharks), Matt Page (London Metro).

Visually Impaired India Series Fixture:

Date	Opposition	Format	Venue
24.05.15	India	ODI	Leamington CC
25.05.15	India	ODI	Wolverhampton CC
28.05.15	India	T20	The KIA Oval
29.05.15	India	ODI	Arundel Castle CC
30.05.15	India	2x T20 Double Header	Arundel Castle CC

2015 Training Dates (all times are 13:00 to 16:00):
Saturday 28 February,Saturday 14/28 March,Saturday 11/25 April.

Venue:
The County Ground, Beckenham,Worsley Bridge Road,Beckenham, Kent BR3 1RL

E-mailcommunityadmin.kent@ecb.co.ukfor more information about visually impaired cricket.