England to stage learning difficulties tournament

21 March 2007

England will be hosting the ECB tri-nations tournament for cricketers with learning difficulties in June. The other nations taking part are Australia and South Africa.

The series follows the first ever international cricket tournament for players with learning difficulties, which was held in South Africa in 2005.

The England squad has been drawn from the county sides that competed in the ninth ECB county championships for players with physical or learning difficulties in 2006.

Squad:

Idris Saeed (Warwickshire)
James Dickens (Somerset)
Kyle Topping, Jonathan Simpson and Dave Lyons (Lancashire)
Usman Ahmed, John Taylor and Allan Hughes (Yorkshire)
Ronnie Abbott and Mark O'Brian (Cheshire)
Doug Randall and Peter Brown (Isle of Wight)
Danny West, Lee Jay and Gavin Randall (Hampshire)

Coaches: Bobby Denning (Lancashire) and Ian Powell (Yorkshire)
Team Manager: Ian Martin (Wales)

Schedule:

May 6: warm-up fixture v Physical Disability Select XI (Welwyn CC)
May 20: warm-up fixture v Physical Disability Select XI (Bradford and Bingley CC)
6 June: Tri Nations Tournament opening ceremony followed by England v Australia (Rosebowl)
7 June: Australia v South Africa (Rosebowl)
8 June: England v South Africa at (Lord's Nursery)
11 June: South Africa v Australia (Hove)
12 June: England v South Africa (Hove)
14 June: England v Australia (Arundel)
15 June: Final (Arundel)