Last weekend, the 2022 Disability Premier League (DPL) got underway at the ECB’s National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough.
The DPL is into its second year and allows the best players in the country, including players from the England Physical Disability, Learning Disability and Deaf sides, as well as the emerging players in each of those categories and the best domestic players from up and down the land to compete and showcase their skills in an elite Disability competition.
The players are selected into four sides, who compete in round-robin league stages with each side playing each other twice, with two more rounds to come. Further league matches are taking place in Wokingham in Berkshire this Sunday (4th September) and Neston in Cheshire a week on Sunday (11th September) before the competition reaches its climax on Thursday 15th September, when the final will take place before England Women take on India Women in an IT20 at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol.
Middlesex are proud to have 12 players involved this year and is testament to their hard work as well as the effort of our coaches – Michael Wilson, Quentin Benningfield, Mikey Thompson and Alex Hughes.
Middlesex representatives:
Black Cats George Greenway, James Nordin, Maddox Colby, Martin Henderson, Moazzam Rashid
Pirates Farooq Mohammad, Jai Charan, Jake Oakes, Umesh Valjee
Tridents Elliot Brown
Hawks Sue Benson, Sammy Kumar
Middlesex performances:
Hawks v Black Cats
Batting first at Hazelgrave, Hawks made 169/4 in their 20 overs with Alex Hammond and (66) and Chris Edwards (52 not out) making half-centuries.
Middlesex’s James Nordin took 1/27 off his three overs, with George Greenway going wicketless, but did take two catches.
In reply, Angus Brown made 60, with Johnathan Gale (29) and Hugo Hammond (20) the only other scores of note as Black Cats mustered 148/8 in their innings – ultimately falling 21 runs short.
Pirates v Tridents
Tridents won the toss and elected to bat first and backed up their decision by scoring 154/7 in their 20 overs.
Jack Perry was the stand-out performer as he bludgeoned 68 off just 41 deliveries – striking three fours and seven huge sixes.
Middlesex’s Mohammad Farooq was the leading bowler in the Pirates attack – taking 2/16. Jordan Dove also claimed two scalps.
In the chase, Middlesex’s Elliott Brown claimed two stumpings and catch with the gloves, putting in an impressive performance as the Pirates could only manage 91 in response – losing by 63 runs.
Tridents v Hawks
In a low-scoring encounter, Hawks won by eight wickets with seven overs remaining.
Middlesex’s Sue Benson played a huge part in restricting Tridents to 93 – taking a remarkable 4/6 in two overs as the opposition were all out with two overs unused.
In the chase, Callum Flynn made an unbeaten 50 as Hawks sealed a comfortable victory.
Black Cats v Pirates
The final match of the weekend saw Black Cats win by five wickets to claim the two points.
After winning the toss and electing to field, the Black Cats bowlers bowled Pirates out for 127, with Dan Reynaldo taking 3/28 with Nordin (1/20) being one of four bowlers that finished with a single wicket.
Having gone wicketless with the ball, Greenway made up for it with the bat as he smashed 42 off 29 – striking four fours and two sixes along the way!
Gale made 40 as the target was reached with 2.1 overs to spare.
Upcoming fixtures:
Sunday 4th September (Wokingham CC)
Tridents v Black Cats
Hawks v Pirates
Hawks v Tridents
Pirates v Black Cats
Sunday 11th September (Neston CC)
Tridents v Pirates
Black Cats v Hawks
Black Cats v Triidents
Pirates v Hawks
*Matches are being livestreamed by the ECB via their website
