Will urge England cricketers to watch videos of blind cricketers, says Paul Downton

Paul Downton will urge the England team to watch blind cricketers in action

Managing Director of English Cricket Paul Downton has asked the English cricketers to watch videos of disabled cricketers and gain inspiration from watching them play. The 57-year old will travel to Sri Lanka with the team for their 7-match ODI series against the Lankans and has pledged to show Alastair Cook and co. the videos that have footage containing the games and interviews of these players.

The recent performances of England, especially in the 50-over format, have been poor to say the least, with the side losing their last 4 ODI series both home and away and also losing to India in the Champions Trophy final last year. So watching videos of disabled cricketers doing well should certainly give the players some much-needed motivation and a reminder of their privileged position ahead of the start of their series against the Lankans on November 26th.

“If you think about the core values that we would like to see at the heart of English cricket - pride, humility, courage and excellence - they are all present within our disability squads. What you see with them is as inspirational as anything you will see anywhere in the sport,” Downton said during the launch of ECB’s "disability cricket pathway" at Lord’s.

"I definitely intend to show Alastair Cook and the guys these videos. They can only be inspired by them," he added.

The Blind World Cup is scheduled to be held in South Africa this month, and England are set to play their first game against Sri Lanka on November 27 in Cape Town. Mahomed Khatri, who is part of the squad for the tournament, said that playing the game despite not having clear eye-sight is a challenge, but he doesn’t let that define him as a person.

"I do face some challenges. But I try not to let them define me,” he said.

Khatri, who lost his eye sight at the age of 16, defied all odds and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro earlier this year to raise money for charity.

"When I first lost my sight, I remember thinking that life wasn't worth living any more. But when you really want something, you find a way. If I hadn't lost my sight I would never have stood on the top of Kilimanjaro or represented England at cricket," Khatri said.