Last Updated on 04/09/2023 by Emma Purcell
The second season of the Disability Premier League (DPL) has been taking place over the past two weeks and the final is scheduled to be broadcast on Sky Sports on Wednesday 6th September, giving more exposure to disability cricket.
The Disability Premier League is a pioneering cricket competition bringing together players from three different disability groups – physical disability (PD), learning disability (LD) and hearing impairment/deaf.
The competition sits between county cricket and the England international setups, encouraging disabled people to take up the sport. The competition also allows existing disability cricketers to come together and play alongside their peers with different disabilities. This opportunity to play high-level cricket regularly is integral to the continuing development and improvement of the England Disability teams.
The final, taking place at the Incora County Ground in Derby on 6th September, will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Cricket alongside England Women’s Vitality IT20 against Sri Lanka.
How does the Disability Premier League work?
There are four teams, each with players from the three disability groups playing alongside each other. Each team plays six T20 games across three weekends, with the top two sides going through to the final.
Each squad contains 16 players, with everyone playing a minimum of two games each during the competition, subject to availability. Each disability group must bowl at least 20% of a team’s overs, meaning a minimum of four overs are to be bowled by at least one player from the PD, LD and Deaf pool.
And now for 2023 is the introduction of an ‘explosion’ over, which is a sixth powerplay over that can be taken by the batting side anywhere between the sixth and 20th overs.
How to watch the Disability Premier League final?
To attend the final, you’ll need to purchase a ticket to the England Women’s game against Sri Lanka, giving you access to both games of cricket. Buy tickets online.
You can catch up on the DPL competition so far at ecp.co.uk and the final will be live-streamed online and broadcast on Sky Sports Cricket on Wednesday 6th September.
How disability cricket has evolved
Richard Hill, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s disability cricket competitions manager, reflected on the progress of disability cricket ahead of the 2023 Disability Premier League.
Richard said: “What we witnessed last year in the DPL was phenomenal. I’ve been in and around disability cricket for more than 20 years and the standard in 2022 was unbelievable. When some of our early rounds were broadcast on the ECB YouTube channel, the professional commentators involved said they’d have thought it was just another game of first-class cricket. That’s a real motivator. It excites me to know we’re going in the right direction.”
He added: “Another indicator of that is that we’re thrilled this year to again have the DPL Final shown live on Sky Sports. It’s a huge event for our calendar and it was a landmark moment last year. As the organisers, we’re proud of making history like this. To have that exposure for our game is fantastic and this year we’ve got a much bigger window of opportunity to get the message out there.”
Richard also shares how disability cricket has grown over the years: “Without a doubt, disability cricket in the UK is in its strongest ever position. The whole pathway, from Lord’s Taverners Super 1s all the way through to the DPL, has seen an increase in the number of players coming into the game. We’ve also recorded a 25% increase in the number of women and girls involved in disability cricket, and we’re very keen to create a women’s DPL. The county game is mixed-gender and some of the women who’ve come in have been fantastic. One thing’s for sure: we won’t drop the baton. We’ll keep doing this and I’m determined we’ll get this going.
When I compare where we’ve been to where we are now, it’s a quantum leap – certainly over the last 10 years or so. Fifteen years ago, our county competition had six teams. In 2023, we’ve got 51. The potential of disability cricket is massive. We can definitely grow the game even further and we continue to do so year on year, even through COVID-19.
He continued: “Looking forward, there’s lots of scope for us to bring in different impairment groups. Our competitions have been developed and designed to be completely scalable, so we’re ready for the growth when it comes. It’s an exciting time for the sport and I can’t wait to see what happens over the short, medium, and long term.”
The Sum of Our Parts – Disability Premier League 2022
The ECB has also produced a documentary – The Sum Of Our Parts – which
follows key players across the DPL – Jonny Gale, James Dixon and the McKenzie brothers, four cricketers from different disability groups who came together to play in the 2022 Disability Premier League. The full documentary is on the ECB website and watch the trailer here:
You can find out more about disability cricket and the Disability Premier League on the England and Wales Cricket Board website.
