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Two Sussex players in England Physical Disability Squad for Bangladesh and Pakistan IT20 Tri-Series

18 Jun 2018

Sussex players Fred Bridges and Liam O’Brien are included in the England squad for the upcoming Vitality IT20 Physical Disability Tri-Series against Bangladesh and Pakistan next month (8-13 July).

Middlesex duo James Nordin and Luke Stoner-Lewis join Hampshire’s Will Flynn in receiving their first call-ups into the senior after impressing in the Physical Disability Lions squad.

Led once again by captain Iain Nairn, England will be looking to win back the trophy after narrowly losing to Pakistan by three wickets in the 2016 final in Dubai.

The Series will see disability cricket breaking new ground as the first international Physical Disability tournament to be held in this country. All three teams will see it as an important staging point ahead of the Physical Disability World Championship in England next year.

England kick off with a double header against Pakistan and Bangladesh on Sunday 8th July at Barnards Green CC. The teams will be battling it out to reach the final on Wednesday 11th July at Kidderminster CC.

The final game will see England take on a Rest of the World XI at Blackfinch New Road on Friday 13th prior to the Vitality Blast game between Worcestershire Rapids and Northamptonshire Steelbacks.

England Physical Disability Head Coach Ian Salisbury said: “This is the first ever home series for the squad and for PD cricket in this country, which is something to celebrate first and foremost. We want everyone who sees us this summer to be left inspired. That’s how we will raise awareness of disability cricket in this country.

“I want each individual to perform to the level their talent deserves. If they reach their potential, generally the outcome will look after itself. If the team improves collectively and individually each game and we win, that’s great but even if we don’t we are still progressing.”

England Physical Disability Captain Iain Nairn said: “This series is a huge opportunity for us to showcase what we do in front of our own fans. When we have played at home it has always been against able-bodied teams. To play on a level playing field and to be able to show what we can do will be special.”

“We know that as PD cricket continues to develop globally it will become harder and harder to be successful, however we believe that we are developing as cricketers all the time. The challenge is that we don’t know how far we have come in the past 18 months. This series will show us that.

“As a result of the work and investment from the ECB into the talent pathway we now have a really strong PD Lions set up and there is a group of guys coming through who can really push us forwards as a team and challenge us all to be better. There is a perfect mix of new talent and experience to hopefully take us through to the final.”

Full Squad

Ian Nairn – Durham (Captain)

Liam Thomas – Yorkshire (Vice Captain)

Matt Askin - Shropshire

Fred Bridges - Sussex

Callum Flynn – Lancashire

Will Flynn – Hampshire (from PD Lions)

Jamie Goodwin - Derbyshire

Dan Hamm - Cheshire

Alex Hammond - Hampshire

Hugo Hammond – Hampshire

Gordon Laidlaw - Yorkshire