DCF Derbyshire Disability Pathway

From the 2025 season, the Derbyshire disability county pathway will be taken on centrally by the Derbyshire Cricket Foundation. The county disability teams provide competitive cricket to those with a physical disability, learning disability, visual impairments, or hearing loss. The first ever DCF County Disability cricket winter training program is now underway, with both seasoned and new players preparing for the upcoming season, led by a dedicated team of experienced coaches.

There are three levels of county disability cricket we offer:

D40

The D40 squad plays a 40-over, hardball version of cricket and Derbyshire compete in the ECB National D40 Pursuit League. It is the premium offer of domestic county level disability cricket. This squad is made up of school and club players; experienced in playing a structured form of cricket i.e. regularly playing in Saturday leagues.

Coaching team: Tom Donaldson and Paul Allen

Super 9’s Regional

Super 9s regional is a softball cricket format for players taking part in county level disability cricket. It has built-in options that allows teams to agree to alter the format to suit the players needs on the day. The conventional option is 30 overs per side. Being played with a softball offers safety for players with limited mobility. Derbyshire currently play in the regional S9 league.

Coaching team: Tony Flavell and Bella Hopcraft

Super 9’s Challenge

We also have a some Super 9s challenge matches scheduled, which will provide a relaxed, enjoyable form of cricket. The Super 9s challenge players train with the S9 regional team.

We are excited to build on the great work by Derbyshire Disability Cricket Club, who previously ran the Disability County Teams, and continue to grow the elite versions of the disability game in Derbyshire. We hope to see players progress to play in the Disability Premier League (DPL) over the coming years. We passionately believe in forging a new way forward for all disability cricket by working with all Disability Champion Cricket Clubs to increase participation at club level, so that we have a greater base to select our county teams from going forward. Our primary aim being to work with the players to achieve success in the game, and longevity beyond the pathway.

Eligibility Criteria and other helpful information about the National Disabled Cricket League can be found here – National Disabled Cricket League.

If you think you may qualify to play and you would like to be involved, please contact Disability Development officer, Bella Hopcraft on: bella.hopcraft@dcfcricket.com