A Roses match at Scarborough this weekend is the ideal way to begin the Disability summer, believes Yorkshire S9 Terriers captain Alastair Domville.
The county’s softball team are in action against Lancashire at North Marine Road on Sunday, a 30-over fixture starting at 1pm.
They are the first of the county’s three Disability teams to kick off their competitive matches for 2023, with the two D40 hardball teams getting underway over the two weekends afterwards.
Domville’s S9 Terriers are defending the Regional North title they won last September, something the skipper is confident of achieving.
Sunday will mark a special day for Domville and his team, with the opening batter saying: “I’ve never played a Disability match on a county ground before, so this will be a first for me.
“We’ve done demonstrations at Headingley in the intervals for able-bodied matches. But I’ve never played a game on a county ground. It will be amazing.
“It’s brilliant to be playing Lancashire – what a way to start the summer.
“It’s always such an exciting fixture for us and the D40 players as well when they play Lancashire.
“We beat them last year, but I’m sure they’ll be stronger this year. We’ll see how we go.”
Domville and co won all seven matches they played last summer.
“From my point of view, last year couldn’t have gone any better,” he continued. “We won all our matches at home and away and then beat Wales in the final.
“The D40 had a good season as well – both teams did really well.
“I’ve been a member of Yorkshire Disability Cricket for 25 years on and off. It’s an absolute honour to be captain, and it’s something I don’t take lightly. I feel very lucky and privileged to do it, and things are looking really good for us.
“The aim is to repeat what we did last year.
“While keeping our foot on the gas and winning the matches in front of us, we’d also like to see the development of our younger players.”
This year, Yorkshire will field three Disability teams – one in the S9 competition and two in the D40 leagues. Last year, there was only one D40 team, who got promoted to the top division of county cricket. Another has since been added to cater for increased participation and strengthen the pathway system.
Domville added: “If the younger players do well with me, it’s a pathway for them to go up and play hardball cricket if they want.
“There’s room for people to go and down across the formats, which is great.”
Next Sunday (May 14), the D40 development team get their Pursuit North League campaign underway against Cheshire at Undercliffe. On May 21, the D40 first team host Lancashire at Higham in their opening National Quest League fixture.
Meanwhile, Disability players William Baxter, Alex Jervis and Luke Riley have all enjoyed early season success in league cricket. Baxter has a six-wicket haul under his belt for Haxey second team, Jervis a seven-for for Clumber Park firsts and Riley a half-century for South Holderness firsts.
