2025 has been another year of growth for disability cricket in Devon, with this year's International Day of Persons with Disabilities offering a timely moment to celebrate the remarkable progress made this year.
The Devon Cricket Foundation aims to provide opportunities for all and take cricket to new audiences, with our goal to deliver year-round weekly sessions for people with a disability across the county, establish a clear pathway for Devon disability cricket and create a Devon Visually Impaired team, all by 2029.
This International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we look back on the success of our disability cricket programmes:
Super 1s
Super 1s is a participation programme run in collaboration with Lord's Taverners for young people aged 12-25 to establish and sustain opportunities within cricket for people who have a disability. The Devon Cricket Foundation runs four Super 1s hubs across Devon, with participation continuing to grow across all hubs in 2025.
The programme aims to make cricket accessible for all and promote a positive impact on participants' health, social and psychological wellbeing. The weekly sessions allow players to learn new skills and meet new people in a safe and friendly environment.
In 2025, we shared the stories of two of our Super 1s participants, Henry and Oisin:
Before his mum signed him up for Super 1s sessions, Henry struggled to join in team activities and make friends on other programmes. Since joining the North Devon hub, his confidence has grown, he fully engages in the sessions and has made numerous friends, with Henry's mum going on to say:
"He's never been able to join in a team before. He's always struggled and this is the first time I can actually bring him, drop him off and I know that he's going to enjoy it.
"It's brilliant," says Henry's mum. "We're really pleased we found [Super 1s]."
Oisin has SATB2, a rare gene condition that affects his motor skills, he's non-verbal and has developmental delay. The impact of a year at our East Devon hub is clear to Oisin's dad:
"Oisin's come on massively. His independence, his hand-eye coordination and his attention span have all massively increased.
"For us [the sessions are] absolutely perfect because we both work full time and quite a lot of [disability-friendly] groups are during the day or straight after school, and we can't really attend those without taking time off work. So [Super 1s] is perfect for us."
Table Cricket
Table Cricket is an adapted format of the game from the Lord's Taverners that is designed to be accessible for people with disabilities. It is played on a table tennis table by two teams of six, where every player gets the chance to bat, bowl and field. The bowler rolls the ball down the bowling ramp to the batter. The batter can score runs by hitting the ball into the different scoring zones, being careful to avoid the fielders.
96 children from across six schools joined us at the Devon Cricket Centre in April, when Newton Abbot Community College emerged as county champions. As has been the case in recent years, Devon once again hosted the South West finals, with Newton Abbot College securing a place in the national finals.
Newton Abbot College went on to finish second on finals day, which took place as part of Disability Cricket Day at Lord's, the biggest ever one-off showcase of disability cricket hosted by the MCC, ECB and Lord’s Taverners.
Devon Disability Team
2025 saw the first disability side to represent Devon since the COVID-19 pandemic, with a mixed disability side, primarily comprised of Super 1s participants, defeating neighbours Somerset in a pairs cricket game at Budleigh Salterton CC.
"Playing our first game in such a long time is a huge milestone for us," said Damian Price, who led the Devon Disability programme at the time. "We have been working really hard for a number of years to get to this point, and this is a huge first step in the right direction."
SEND School Delivery
An important part of our Community Cricket Coaches' roles in the delivery of our SEND School Offer, in partnership with Lord's Taverners, comprises 20 coaching hours delivering both softball and table cricket. During the 2024/25 academic year, our Community Cricket Coaches delivered SEND cricket sessions to 779 children across 22 schools in Devon, with 109 going on to attend a summer softball festival.
Disability Champion & Supporter Clubs
The Devon Cricket Foundation is always looking for new Devon clubs to become Disability Champion and Disability Supporter Clubs.
The Disability Cricket Champion Club Programme supports cricket clubs through guidance, resources and equipment, enabling them to welcome individuals with additional needs and varying abilities to support them to play, follow, officiate and volunteer.
Disability Supporter Clubs make sure people with a disability have the same opportunities to play by helping the Devon Cricket Foundation promote disability cricket opportunities.
For more information on becoming a Disability Champion or Supporter Club, please contact Scott Chappell:
scott.chappell@devoncricket.co.uk
Looking forward to 2026
2026 is set to be an exciting year for disability cricket in Devon as the Devon Cricket Foundation looks to appoint a Disability Cricket Officer later this month who will be responsible for the coordination, growth, and delivery of disability and inclusive cricket programmes across the county.
