Stephen George spoke after being named the England Disability Cricketer of the Year at Lord's
Stephen George said it was "a dream come true" after being named as the England Disability Cricketer of the Year earlier this week.
The all-action star of the England Deaf tour of South Africa was honoured alongside Ian Bell, Charlotte Edwards and Will Rhodes at a ceremony in the famous Long Room at Lord’s.
George was part of the England Deaf squad that won every match in South Africa last autumn, playing his part with bat, ball and wicketkeeping gloves.
“It means a lot,” George told ecb.co.uk. “It means everything to me. It’s been fantastic – it came out of the blue. It’s a dream come true.
“I didn’t have any notice until I got here and met my coaches and they said ‘congratulations, you’ve got player of the year’.
“It’s fantastic. Amazing. I can’t describe anything else.”
George scored a century in the opening match of the series – the first of four ODIs – as England made a perfect start to the tour.
He then took off the wicketkeeping gloves for the first T20 and took 5-31 as England continued their winning streak which in the end saw them victorious in all six matches.
“It was the first time I’ve ever had a hundred in my life,” said George as he reflected on his ton.
“I was very proud. It was very hard work. It was a hot day but a really, really good day.
“I took my gloves off for the first T20 – I would usually be the wicketkeeper as well –and took five wickets and was man of the match.
“The tour was fantastic. We won every game. It’s been good. We performed, trained hard and worked as a team. It was a great performance.”