Metro Visually Impaired Cricket club will be competing in the Blind Cricket T20 finals day tomorrow at North London Cricket club.
The Londoners are aiming for a second piece of silverware this season after claiming the Blind Cricket England and Wales National league title last weekend.
Metro will be joined for the finals day by Somerset, Northants Steelbacks and last season’s T20 champions Warwickshire Bears.
Ahead of finals day, Matt Page, Metro and England International blind cricketer, said: “The competition at finals day is always strong but we’re feeling confident.
“We’ve been training regularly once a week in Highgate and feeling strong.”
When asked who he thinks will be Metro’s toughest opponents on the day, the 23-year-old from Uxbridge said: “Warwickshire normally field a strong side but Somerset are a team with huge potential who have developed a lot in the last couple of years.
“Somerset are the dark horses for tomorrow.”
The England International was delighted to be part of the Metro side that won the national league this season.
He said: “We were very pleased. It is our first piece of silverware for a few years and we’re hoping to add to that tomorrow.”
The draw for the semi finals will be made tomorrow morning with the games starting at 11am at North London Cricket club.
A final and third place play off will take place in the afternoon, spectators are welcome and there is no entry fee.
Blind cricket is a form of cricket played by people with a visual impairment. Who have a sight classification ranging from B1 to B4.
Players in the B1 category will have virtually no sight but may have some light / dark perception.
The domestic game is played to the normal laws of cricket with a few adaptations for the players.
The ball is a size 3 football with ball bearings in which allows the totally blind batsmen to hear the ball.
The players use a larger wicket to make it easier for the partially sighted players to see.
The ball must pitch at least twice before the crease when bowled to a B1 and must pitch at least once before the crease when bowling to a partially sighted Batsman.
B1′s can catch the ball after the ball has bounced once.
The bowler must ask the batsmen “Ready” and they must wait for a response from the batsmen before they can bowl. As they release the ball the batsmen must shout “Play”.
When a B1 is bowled LBW they are given half out and so a B1 must be bowled LBW twice to be considered out.
There is a national league consisting of seven teams, a North and East and South and West development leagues. There is a knockout cup tournament and a T20 cup.
The international game is played with a small ball with ball bearings in and bowled under arm.
The ball can reach speeds of 60-70MPH when bowled. England have played at three world cups finishing third each time.
In 2012 England finished fourth in the first Blind cricket T20 world cup.
