Australia women’s blind cricket team makes historic debut at the World Games in England…and the Aussies mark the occasion in style with seven-wickets thrashing of the Poms

Australia women’s blind cricket team makes historic debut at the World Games in England…and the Aussies mark the occasion in style with seven-wickets thrashing of the Poms

• Australia’s women team competed in the IBSA World Games for the first time
• Blind Cricket Australia has recently launched its women’s team
• Australia beat England by seven wickets in the tournament opener 

By Dan Cancian For Daily Mail Australia

Updated: 10:41 BST, 23 August 2023

Australia women’s blind cricket team marked their debut at the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games in style as they beat England by seven wickets in their tournament opener on Saturday.

The tournament marks the first time Australia has sent a women’s blind cricket team to compete on the world stage. 

England and India are the only two other teams competing in blind cricket at the World Games in Birmingham, as the sport made its debut at the event.

Until recently, Australia did not have a blind cricket team, meaning blind and vision-impaired women could only play elite-level cricket by competing against men.

Blind Cricket Australia has since launched a women’s team, which is coached by Taylah Purton and captained by Julie Newman.

Australia have sent their first ever women’s blind cricket team to the the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games in Birmingham 

‘For them to be able to play the sport they love and for me to be able to help them is huge. I love it,’ Purton told the ABC. 

‘If we could get the women’s program to a space similar to where the men are at now in the next five to 10 years, that would be absolutely awesome.’ 

While blind cricket is broadly very similar to its traditional counterpart, some aspects of the game differ greatly.

The ball contains ball bearings to make it easier for players to keep track of it and is always bowled underarm.

Players are divided into three categories – B1, B2 and B3 – depending on their degree of vision impairment. Each starting XI must contain four B1 players – who are completely blind – and a maximum of four B3 players. 

Courtney Webeck only took up cricket in November last year, but has already been named Australia’s vice-captain and believes the World Games are a great opportunity to raise awareness for the sport.

‘It would be amazing to bring new people in,’ she said. 

Rich Moxly, the chair of Blind Cricket Australia, echoed the feeling and hailed getting the women’s team to compete on the world stage as a significant milestone.

‘At the end of the day, for sport to be a sport for all, to be properly integrated, there shouldn’t be a delineation between the support that’s offered for one group over another group,’ he said.

The Aussies beat England by seven wickets in their opening game last week 

Cricket Australia, Vision Australia, a non-profit organisation helping the development of vision-impaired children and young people, and charity Taverners all contribute to the funding of Blind Cricket Australia.

After beating England on Saturday, Australia lost by eight wickets against India the following day and by 12 runs against England on Tuesday.

The teams play each other twice, with the two sitting at the top of table playing the grand final on August 26. 

The men’s team, meanwhile, lost its opening match by six wickets to England on Sunday and lost by eight wickets to India the following day. 

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