Four Western Australians have been rewarded for their on-field performance in the recent Cricket Australia National Inclusion Cricket Championships, to be selected in the Australian squad for the International Blind Sport Federation Games (IBSA) in Birmingham.
Returning to the United Kingdom for the first time since the 2018 Ashes, Australia’s Blind Squad will compete in the cricket division of the IBSA Games at the University of Birmingham, to be played between August 17-27.
Staged every four years, the IBSA is the largest high-level international event for athletes with a visual impairment outside the Paralympic Games, with more than 1250 competitors from 70 nations expected.
Joondalup’s Bradley Brider has been selected off the back of an outstanding National Cricket Inclusion Championships (NCIC) played in Brisbane last month, where he was named Player of the Tournament in the Blind division.
The 24-year-old tallied 329 runs at an average of 109.67, with his performances instrumental in leading his side to the Grand Final. He registered two fifties and a century during his five innings, to finish as the division’s top run scorer.
He also been chosen as one of two vice captains, alongside New South Wales cricketer Shaun Fitzpatrick.
Brider has been joined in the squad by Michael Berg, Ryan Honschooten and Matthew Cameron, who represented WA at the NCIC for the first time this year.
Cameron performed remarkably with the bat during the tournament, striking 208 runs in four innings while only being dismissed once.
He also represented Australia in the International Inclusion series in June last year, where he scored 289 runs in five innings, with a highest score of 125 not out.
National Blind Squad:
Matthew McCarthy © (Nundah, QLD)
Shaun Fitzpatrick (vc) (Smithfield, NSW)
Bradley Brider (vc) (Joondalup, WA)
Lachlan Hayward (Langwarrin, VIC)
Oscar Stubbs (Glenwood, NSW)
Michael Berg (High Wycombe, WA)
Ryan Honschooten (Gosnells, WA)
Matthew Cameron (Butler, WA)
Reuben Fairbank (Walkley Heights, SA)
Lachlan Wallace (Adelaide, SA)
Michael Zannis (Rostrevor, SA)
Oliver Fanshawe (Pullenvale, QLD)
Jack McAlister (Pimpana, QLD)
Steve Obeid (St Albans, VIC)
Sean Kendrick (West Lake, QLD)
Steffan Nero (Parramatta,NSW)
Ijlal Ahmed (Adelaide, SA)
Head Coach: Mechelle Hare