MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Today has special significance for the blind and visually impaired.

It’s World Braille Day, which honours the memory of Louis Braille, a 19th century visually impaired Frenchman who invented the Braille system which allows blind people to read using their fingertips.

“Think about your written word and your pen and paper, that’s what Braille is for me,” Daemion McLean, chairman of the Jamaica Society for the Blind and general secretary of the Jamaica Visually Impaired Cricket Association [JAVICA], told the Jamaica Observer earlier this week.

“A vital part of my life would be missing, if I did not have Braille,” McLean added.

He used the example of Braille to dramatise the importance of adaptations of sport, not least cricket, to visually impaired people.

McLean said organised recreation and sport were essential in helping the blind and visually impaired to stay healthy, fit, confident, as well as to minimise cases of lifestyle diseases and mental depression.

“In the same way that Braille works for us… so does sport and recreation in helping us to cope mentally and physically,” argued McLean.

In the case of cricket, blind and visually impaired players bat, bowl and field by tracking a rattling sound to locate the ball which is made of hard plastic with metal bearings inside.

Among the more noticeable differences with conventional cricket is that the ball is bowled underarm. Blind and visually impaired cricketers tend to be especially proficient at playing the sweep shot.

Jamaica has a highly successful record in Caribbean blind and visually impaired cricket competitions. And, Jamaicans have played in tournaments around the globe down the years as part of West Indies blind and visually impaired teams.

Since last year’s lifting of restrictions related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Jamaica’s blind cricket fraternity has been exploring competitive opportunities to stay well tuned especially in the context of plans for at least two overseas teams to visit this year.

Coach Glendon Coke says the “focus must be on development for the future”. He is hoping for a practice/exhibition match every month to keep his core group of players “match ready” and also as part of a recruitment drive now being revived after the COVID-19-induced break since early 2020.

In November, the first such game was played at Bowes Oval, Lane District, in south Manchester close to the border with south eastern St Elizabeth.

Rain brought an early end to on-field activities but not before locals were thoroughly entertained as visiting blind and visually impaired cricketers played a ‘pick-up’ exhibition game among themselves. Locals and visitors, including Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Eastern, Frank Witter, spent time at a tented entertainment area until late in the evening.

Cricket Development Manager Steve Ashman believe similar exhibition/demonstration games will help to spark interest and material support for blind cricket islandwide. He said pledges of support have come from parish cricket associations and some political representatives.

Ashman noted that Witter provided meals for cricketers at the Bowes Oval in November.

“We have no big corporate sponsors but every little mickle mek a muckle, and we find that everywhere we go locals are always helpful and welcoming,” said Ashman.

— Garfield Myers