England Visually Impaired squad announced

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced a 17-man Visually Impaired squad led by Matt Dean to travel to South Africa for the Blind Cricket World Cup in November.

Ed Hossell (Somerset VICC), Jason Aughton (Somerset) and Kelvin Duncan (Sussex Sharks) are all included in the national squad for the first time and there are also places for three uncapped players, Mark Bond (London Metro), Ryan Jones (London Metro) and Jimmy Millard (Sussex Sharks).

Hossell and Aughton are the first Somerset players to be selected for the national squad which was chosen by new Coach Ross Hunter and also includes seven players from London Metro, four from Sussex and three from Warwickshire.

England will take on Sri Lanka in Cape Town on November 27th in their first match of the tournament which will also feature teams from Australia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies.

Commenting on the make-up of the squad, Ross Hunter praised teenager Josh Nonet Black (Surrey) who narrowly missed out on selection: “This is a strong squad with a nucleus of senior players and some exciting new players as well who will be keen to make an impression in South Africa.

"We also gave serious consideration to including Josh Nonet Black who is only 16 years old and an immense prospect for England Visually Impaired Cricket.

"His development will be overseen by our Regional Development Centres and I am sure that he will make his debut for England in the very near future.”

England Visually Impaired Squad for 2014 World Cup:
Matt Dean (London Metro, Captain)
Luke Sugg (Warwickshire Bears, Vice-Captain)
Amit Amin (London Metro)
Jason Aughton (Somerset)
Peter Blueitt (Yorkshire VICC)
Mark Bond (London Metro)
Gavin Dean (London Metro)
Kelvin Duncan (Sussex Sharks)
Dan Field (Sussex Sharks)
Justin Hollingsworth (Warwickshire Bears)
Ed Hossell (Somerset VICC)
Ryan Jones (London Metro)
Hassan Khan (London Metro)
Mahomed Khatri (Warwickshire Bears)
Si Ledwith (Sussex Sharks)
James Millard (Sussex Sharks)
Matt Page (London Metro)

Itinerary