Vice-President of the West Indies Blind Cricket Council, Anthony Avril says he is pleased about the state of the game in the Region though more sponsorship is needed to boost blind cricketers’ all-round development.
Avril said attitudes towards blindness and blind people in the Caribbean have improved but more can be done which will allow persons affected by this disability to lead fuller lives and to be recognised for their talents. Avril said in the Region several superstitions are still attached to blindness and though it has lessened to the point where parents are no longer ashamed of taking their blind children into public spaces, more improvements can be made.
Avril, who has performed as the VP since 2007, works continuously with the West Indies Cricket Council, Caribbean Council for the Blind and the St Lucian Blind Welfare Association. He said one of the major problems that plague the sport is sponsorship. He said this in regard to sponsorship both from government and the corporate society, though he did single out Sight Savers International as one of the sport’s biggest supporters over the years. “What we have right now is a huge problem with finance, funding tournaments has been a major problem and we have not yet been able to secure sponsorship from government nor has there been any help from businesses,” he said. The Windward Islands were absent from this year’s Fourth Regional Tournament due to a lack of funds.
Avril also opined that for a person interested in the sport there are certain things that are needed to develop the game and participants’ self-esteem. He said in many countries adjustments have been made to accommodate visually impaired persons and blind children are accepted into the standard school system and even attend the University of Guyana and the University of the West Indies. He said in Guyana he had hoped to hear of more visually impaired cricket players as based on his conversations with team managers he believes that there are many talented blind cricketers, lauding the accomplishments of Oliver Kerr, one of the country’s blind batsmen.
Jamaica is the strongest team in the Caribbean but in Avril’s opinion Guyana could very well reach the standard they have attained. Currently the West Indies Cricket Council and World Blind Cricket Council are challenged by players’ classification as it had been found that the players all possess different abilities even when they are put into the same category. “We have been working on the classification for a while but we will find a solution in the near future that I am sure of,” he said. Avril plans to spend the remainder of the week in Guyana and will be attending the Guyana Blind Cricket Association AGM.
