BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
PANAJI
Cricket for the visually impaired (VI) is an inclusive sport few are familiar with. Goa was provided with a wonderful opportunity to host few games of the tri-nation Blind T-20 tournament which India comprehensively won by defeating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final in Porvorim on Saturday.
The third team in the fray, England had a distinctive cricketer amidst their squad. Pete Blueitt, a B1 (totally blind) cricketer, was continuing a purple patch from the bilateral series (he was the B1 category Man of the Series) against the host team in Bangalore.
Arguably the oldest active blind cricketer in the world at 58, Pete Blueitt was not always blind. “I turned blind in 2007 due to a pituitary brain tumour. While removing the tumour, I was affected to the extent that it left me blind after the operation. I can see nothing at all in my right eye while I have light perception in my left eye,” he disclosed.
Losing his vision may have impacted his life but it did not blur his foresight that life still served a reason to him. It was his introduction to blind cricket that massively changed his life after the mishap. “I earlier felt I did not have any purpose as I could work no more with life having changed so much,” he admitted.
But then through cricket, he realized the sport was inclusive to the extent that it welcomed people like him and showed him how to do things that would ensure that they would still appreciate life.
“My brother worked in a Sports Centre at home in Sheffield. He introduced me to disabled sports. So I started playing for my home county in Yorkshire and got along quite well. In 2010, I was introduced to the England Blind Cricket team. I had a couple of trials with the team,” he recalled.
It was not long that the affable Blueitt was handed his England Blind Cricket cap. “I debuted for England in the Ashes versus Australia in Melbourne in 2011. I only scored about 10 but it was fantastic getting my first cap for England,” the proud Yorkshireman stated.
With India being such a dominant force in blind cricket, playing the opposition has been special. “My most memorable game perhaps was when I played India for the first time in Bangalore in 2012. I heard so much of the team being so great and the expectation of it all,” he disclosed.
Though he asserts that he enjoys every game he plays for his country, he singles out his highest international score of 98 not out in a T20 Blind World Cup 2017 match against Australia in Indore as a career high. At the local level, the Yorkshire cricketer prides himself in getting T20 medals with his county being declared the 2013 champions. He also rates his domestic best score of 146 against Sussex a year or two later as memorable. With England, in the T20 Blind World Cup last year, he revealed that winning three man-of the-match awards apart from the man-of the-series with the English team were good highlights.
Being a totally blinded cricketer and yet a consistent performer with the willow, what is his secret to understanding the delivery coming in his direction? “I am doing it for so long now that I do not really think about it all that much. I try to be quiet and listen to where the bowler is standing and listen to the first bounce of the ball that normally gives a clue on and off. Usually, on the first ball, I just put the bat on the ball and count until the ball hits the bat. And if the bowler does not vary his pace so much, I can count and still strike,” the prolific B1 category batsman explained.
But he does admit being fully sighted until around 11 years back, gave him an advantage against other B1 born players. “I am playing at this level for the last eight years now and being a sighted person earlier it does give me a better understanding of the field placements when my runner tells me about it. As I have been sighted earlier, I can draw a mental picture which I think might be advantageous,” the B1 one-drop bat said.
On the blind cricket set up in England, he says the domestic cricket set up to choose the players for the national team is quite small. “We have 8-9 local county leagues where we play cricket and the England team is chosen from that group of County cricketers. There are not many people to choose from ,” he said. He also revealed that the visually impaired players play once a week on the weekends in summer, home and away in their local league.
For Blueitt, the England Blind cricket team means the world. “My team-mates are 30 years younger than me, and I have a lot of fun with them.”
