Across the March long weekend, the WA Cricket Foundation brought together its Inclusion Academy teams to celebrate an inspiring summer of cricket and expose players to national selection pathways.
Teams competed in the inaugural Inclusion Academy Games, a series of round robin competitions at Kent Street Senior High School.
The tournament featured five teams: the WA Intellectual Disability, WA Hard of Hearing and WA Blind XI – plus the Culture Cup Mixed Team and 15’s District Team.
Participation and Diversity Manager Fiona Cumming said the WA Cricket Foundation is committed to not only providing a positive participation experience, but also developing full pathway for athletes with a disability to represent their State and Country.
“Our aim is for cricket to be reflective of the communities in which it is played,” she said.
“Tournaments like this give people from diverse backgrounds an amazing opportunity to build new friendships and social networks while showcasing their skills.”
The Inclusion Academy Games was attended by Paolo Franzoni, a satellite coach for WA’s Blind and Vision Impaired and Intellectual Disability sides, who assessed potential candidates for national selection on behalf of Cricket Australia.
“Every West Australian deserve an equal opportunity to benefit from and excel in the sport we all love,” said Fiona Cumming.
“This tournament helped provide players with the exposure to those critical pathways towards national selection.”
Following consultation by Cricket Australia with the CA Medical team and competing States and Territories it was decided that the National Cricket Inclusion Championships will not proceed in March 2022.
The same decision has been made for other National Outdoor Championships, including the Toyota Australian Country Cricket Championships and National Indigenous Championships that were to be held in April.
It is vitally important that we continue to support and engage with our players in these teams and give them the opportunity to continue playing at the highest level. As such, WA Cricket is providing a locally-based program in place of the Championships, including the Inclusion Academy Games.
WA Cricket will also provide support to any WA players vying for selection in the National Blind, Deaf and ID Squads for the upcoming International Series in June 2022.