Student refuses to be stumped by visual impairment

James Douglas loves cricket but says he struggled to find any teams he could play for growing up

A visually impaired student has spoken of his joy at finally being able to play competitive cricket after struggling to find any teams he could play for growing up.

James Douglas, 20, who is originally from Londonderry in Northern Ireland, is now in his second year of studying physics at Durham University.

James loves cricket but said he initially found it quite difficult to compete in the sport because of his limited vision.

He described his vision as like "a blurry camera" and said that he struggles with depth perception.

James told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme that for a long time he would have stayed at the sidelines rather than pick up a cricket bat himself.

James hopes more visually impaired people will consider taking up the sport

"I didn't start playing until I moved to England for university when I realised there was a visually impaired cricket club at Durham County Cricket Club," he said.

"I went down to a few training sessions and just fell in love with playing this great game.

"I now play for them [Durham] and also for Yorkshire."

James plays in a number of positions but said he particularly enjoys fielding.

What is visually impaired cricket?

The sport is designed so people with a variety of sight levels can take part.

Visually impaired cricket uses a larger ball rather than sighted cricket and also relies on the noise made by the bells within it when it bounces on the way to the batter.

The wickets are also larger so batsman and bowlers can touch them to orientate themselves.

For a batter who is blind, the ball must bounce at least twice before reaching the crease.

For a batter who is partially sighted, the ball must bounce at least once before reaching the crease.

James describes his level of vision as like "a blurry camera"

James said he would like to see the creation of a competitive visually impaired cricket league on the island of Ireland.

"Unfortunately there is no kind of formal team, no Northern Ireland team or north west team [for the visually impaired] but I think things are getting better with different initiatives to get people to try out the sport," he said.

James encouraged anyone who is visually impaired to reach out to local clubs because he has found the cricket community incredibly friendly and open to getting people involved in the sport.