Despite Government Apathy, Deaf Cricket Is Getting Recognition It Deserves

‘Deaf cricket is more difficult to play. It’s all about visual, non-verbal communication as well as awareness,’ reflects Stefan Pichowski, Chairman of DICC.

Three years back, Stefan, who represented England’s deaf cricket team, got a hearing implant. After undergoing speech training, today he’s able to communicate, respond and reflect naturally.

As he shares his experience, Stefan looks at the young international cricket players from Australia, South Africa, Nepal and Sri Lanka who were exuding infectious energy, waiting for the final of T20 Deaf World Cup the next day in Gurugram.

The international deaf cricket tournament, held for the very first time in India, was organized by the collaboration of Deaf Cricket Society, India and Deaf International Cricket Council (DICC) from November 23-30. Sri Lanka won the first T20 Deaf World Cup by beating India in the final by 36 runs.

Along with the spirit of sportsmanship that transcends through the reality of disability and hearing loss, the tournament played a pivotal role in raising awareness, bringing young international players together and creating a mise en scène of grit, fortitude and energy.

‘It gets difficult, especially when I am fielding at the boundary and have to look at the captain for instructions. The bouncy pitch and ball’s trajectory needs alertness,’ says Austin Philip, the 18-year-old India-born cricketer who represents the Australian deaf cricket. ‘Cricket is all about positivity. I am aiming to join the mainstream league in future,’ he states. Austin had to undergo an enormous amount of speech training after getting an implant, an experience that today adds to his gusto. Players are prohibited from wearing implants while playing in the stadium as it would amplify the various sounds, causing massive commotion for them.

To further simplify the communication hurdles, every team has a sign language interpreter in their squad. As sign language of each country is different from each other and at times, not in sync with the international sign language, the role of the interpreter becomes very important.

‘Hearing coaches and sign language interpreters are very important. There are different symbols in sign language making it more diverse. The processing time needed to clarify and interpret the speaker’s words should be minimal. As deaf cricketers have restricted access to information and do not get the same information as others, sign language is very essential,’ remarks Stefan. In addition, selecting the right sign language interpreter who is in tandem with the energy, body-language and response reflex of the players is quite difficult, too.

International players like David Melling (who scored 112 for 63 balls against Nepal) confidently say, ‘I started playing cricket when I was seven-years-old.’ Talking about his future aspirations, he states, ‘It’s not at all hard being a deaf cricketer. It’s all about knowing your goals and achieving them. I want to play for the international team one day.’

Though, the scenario in India is quite different, to say the least.

‘I loved playing cricket and realized that my deafness should not be a hurdle. So, along with my friends, we founded the Deaf cricket society in India in 2012. We started from state and intra-state level matches, followed by national and international ones. Today, we have more than 500 players in our community but we lack funding, sponsorship and support,’ says Sumit Jain, the General Secretary of Deaf Cricket Society in India.

In spite of the lack of funding from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian government, Sumit and his team were able to collaborate with DICC, headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa. The entire team had started from the very scratch, building their networks and contacts to create recognition about deaf cricket in India. Also, maintaining international standard gets difficult without government funding, yet the team continues to struggle ferociously without compromising their image.

Imran Sheikh, who hails from Baroda was the captain of the Indian deaf team. ‘Exhaustive fitness tests along with cricket coaching are very necessary,’ he remarked. Yet the hearing disability at times, does take a toll. Fahimuddin Abassi, one of the fastest Indian deaf bowlers, said, ‘In spite of winning the U-22 cricket tournament, I wasn’t considered eligible for Ranji Trophy.’ Nevertheless, he sticks with his utterly disciplined ritual of watching cricket tapes for hours to grasp the on-the-field learning, not available even in the best of cricket manuals. The lack of sponsorship also has a negative impact on the career of the deaf Indian cricketers. For example, Rohit Saini, the wicket-keeper-cum-batsman for the Indian team has been playing cricket for 15 years, yet sponsorship remains a huge hurdle.

But in struggles like these, the co-operation from cricket legends motivates these players, enormously. Supporting their dreams and futuristic aspirations was Brett Lee, the Australian cricket legend, who was the Guest of Honour for the final. Envisaging the diversity of the players, Brett encouraged them in a-hour-long pep talk about how injuries, surgeries, downfalls and disability should not be a hurdle for young, energetic and focused players. ‘My greatest enemy is always me’, he reflects while subtly suggesting the young players to push-out of their comfort zone and take diverse risks.

Today, the single motivation of Deaf Cricket Society, India can be summed up on vigorously promoting deaf talent in the country and creating recognition, interest and awareness, so that the society could be taken to a different level.