Sussex VI reach cup semi-final

After the last weekend’s heavy league defeat at Northants, the Sussex VI Sharks (Visually Impaired) were looking to bounce back on Saturday with victory in the cup quarter final on a sunny day at the beautiful Blackstone Cricket Ground.

Sussex put out a strong side to face Kent Spitfires, who are in the second division of the BCEW league. Sussex won the toss and decided to field.

Kent managed to see off the early pace of Joe Harrison and Marcus Kipling without loss. The rules of blind cricket require the fielding team use completely blind bowlers (sight category B1) for 3 in every 10 overs.

This helps to ensure that the game is as inclusive as possible. Step up, David Daniels and Ian 'Tiny' Morris. The next 11 overs brought 7 wickets for just 65 runs. David Daniels ending with 6 wickets for 34 runs and Ian Morris 1 wicket for 31 runs.

6 of the 7 wickets were clean bowled. David Daniels figures are in the top ten bowling performances in BCEW history for any sight category.

This is an extraordinary performance given that totally blind bowlers who direct their deliveries just by listening to calls from the wicket keeper.

Having bowled Kent out for 99, Sussex responded with 77 not out (7 fours and 2 sixes) from captain Dan Field and 16 not out from Callum Weir.

This is Callum's third contribution with the bat in recent weeks and at 17 years old, he is looking like a future star for the VI Sharks.

The Sharks move on to face Lancashire in July’s cup semi-final in the BCEW Primary Club Heindrich Swanepoel Memorial Cup.