Disability Cricket and Flicx Pitches.

Recently Flicx has been involved with Surrey Cricket Foundation bringing and allowing more cricket to be played across Surrey for all ages and all abilities. Over the course of the year Flicx has played a part in Surrey Disability Day 2022 and Valley End Cricket Club Disability Festival, both of which were a great success.

Surrey Disability Day:

In May 2022, Flicx attended the annual Surrey Disability Day were over 400 children and young adults across the county came for a day filled with cricket, socialising, and most importantly fun. The day was a massive success allowing all the attendees to have fun playing cricket with their peers. Flicx brought along three pitches to the annual day at the Kennington Oval. Two pitches were used at one of the many stations scattered on the outfield, where the young adults and children developed their bowling skills and improved their techniques. The third pitch was used by the Surrey Visually Impaired Team, where a small game was played on the outfield integrating those attending and allowing them the opportunity to enjoy a game of cricket. We at Flicx were honoured to part of such an incredible day.

Valley End Disability Festival:

Valley End and the Rascals disability team were delighted to host the inaugural Inter Hub Match Day on 9^th July; welcoming teams from Merstam (Magic), Rowledge and a Surrey invitational XI. Having hosted disability festivals in 2020 and 2021, the ability to play two games on one pitch on reliable, true, and safe outfield pitches made the whole event much simpler to manage than having to use two or three pitches.

The flexibility of having the two Flicx pitches meant officials, players, and spectators we all able to be accommodated alternating between pitches with each Hub Clubs teams participate in at least two Super 9 matches in the one afternoon. Lessons were learnt in this first event to improve future Inter Hub Match Days, but the one real success was the Flicx pitch. As well as resting the clubs’ squares, the Flicx mating provides clearer contract between pitch and ball enabling those with impaired vision to play a full part in all the matches; this discovery has led to ongoing development of contract pitches/patches with Flicx aiming to further improve levels of participation. We are all looking forwards to the next Match Day.

The modular construction of the mat means that specific patches/targets and the like can be inserted into the core mat without introducing ridges or lips and Valley End Rascals are looking forwards to working with Flicx to produce a match pitch that can be adapted for specialised coaching and/or match sessions tailored to suit the needs of all players – Adrian Gale (Valley End Cricket Club)

“We were delighted to use the Flicx pitches during a recent inter-club Festival hosted by Valley End CC.  This brought together players with additional needs from six other clubs and allowed two matches to be played simultaneously on a single ground.  They provided true and safe surfaces and ensured that all the players had a very positive experience in what for some was their first ever match.  Moving forward, we are excited about the possibilities to refine the colours of the pitch to enhance the enjoyment of players with a visual impairment and to improve the effectiveness of coaching for all participants.” – Neil Bunting (Surrey Disability Development Officer

If you require any further information or would like a quote, do get in touch with our helpful team at https://flicx.com/get-a-quote/ or email sales@flicx.co.uk or call us on 01295 816765