Squad announced for DICC Champs

06.03.2016, The South Africa Deaf Cricket Association (SADCA) on Saturday announced its 15-man squad that will participate in the Deaf International Cricket Council (DICC) Championships that will be held in Dubai from 8-14 March.

The team will be led by veteran cricketer Colin Venter in hopes to return the top honours to South Africa.

The 50-over tournament between South Africa, England, India and Pakistan will be hosted at the ICC Academy in Dubai, where the participating teams will play three round-robin matches and a final or third and fourth place playoffs.

It has been a long road for both the players selected and the selection panel to reach this point. The process has taken a little under two years, with players selected having taken part in the 2014 and 2015 SA Deaf Cricket Inter-provincial tournaments. They also had to take part in National Trials in December 2015 in Pretoria as well as a national camp following that.

President of SADCA, Rory Hickson said: “The South African Deaf Cricket Association (SADCA) has been in existence for over 20 years and has come a long way in serving deaf cricket in South Africa. The SADCA has grown tremendously over the past 15 years and special mention must be made directly to Cricket South Africa (CSA) for making this possible.

“The recognition given by CSA to deaf cricket in South Africa, as well as its funding and assistance at all levels from administration, development, coaching as well as support of sponsors who support Deaf cricket, is the mainstay behind the strong structure and foundations that keep SADCA functioning professionally and efficiently.

“A number of the players representing the SADCA have never been on an airplane before, let alone left the country. For them to be called up to receive national colours and then board an aircraft to compete against well-known international sides like England, India and Pakistan is surely to rank as a highlight that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. This was all made possible by CSA and this has, in turn, made the players not only proud to be associated with the beautiful game of cricket, but also to be so proudly South African and ambassadors to Deaf Cricket and CSA.”

The team will depart for the tournament on Sunday, 6 March, and will return on the 16th.