Cricketer bats on to victory

BENDIGO’S Zac Sheehan has been playing in the Australian blind cricket squad for the last five years, and now he’s hungry for a big win.

The B1 player was supposed to travel to England with the squad for the Ashes this year, but with international borders still shut the team used the extra time to brush up on skills at a training camp last week.

“That’s 100 per cent positive, especially when none of our guys have really had any game work or match play in the last 12 to 18 months,” Sheehan said.

“Doing that one-on-one match playing or training on your own is a benefit but in the long run you’re not going to learn a lot if you’re not bouncing ideas off each other.”

“It’s just more to get that normality back, get the skill level back, have that variety around being in the group again, just being back with your mates and having a bit of fun.

“My aim now that I’m back in the squad is to keep my spot and hopefully go on three or four tours down the track.”

Sheehan’s ambitions aren’t just career focussed though and being the only player from Bendigo in the Victorian Blind Cricket Association, he said he hoped he could bring the sport to kids in the region.

“I’ve got a couple of conversations I’ve got to have with Cricket Australia to work out what transfers I can actually do to try and get cricket up and going in Bendigo, see if there’s any other kids out there that want to enjoy the support and want to have a part in it.

“There’s a lot of people that don’t know much about blind cricket,” he said. “It’s a different type of cricket.”

Sheehan said the game is a communication-based one with different skills needed to red ball cricket, like underarm bowling.

Players with varied loss in vision can play in different tiers, and Sheehan encouraged those interested to pad up.

“I want people to know that it’s very inclusive. We’re all about you having a go, everyone makes a mistake in their life but it’s not the end of the world.”

For more information visit vbca.org.au.