An invisible disability The challenges of visual impairment in cricket, a personal story

Christiaan Partridge is a GP, photographer, football coach and cricket coach. Christiaan picked up a camera relatively late in life and recently completed a First Class Honours degree in photography at the University of Chester.

I recently took part in a study funded by the ECB in the wake of the Yorkshire CCC scandal and I wanted to share some of my experiences of recreational cricket with you. I was invited to take part in this study because of my various roles as a player, parent, coach, umpire, scorer and club official. It was a very enlightening experience and perhaps sharing what I have learnt over the years about cricket and more importantly about myself may help some to understand my driving ambitions and others may find it enlightening. Some of the issues that this study has reopened for me have changed my view of recreational cricket and where it should be.

My medical history is key to the issues I have faced as a cricketer, from my childhood to playing here and now. It is only this year that I have felt comfortable enough to admit that I have a disability that limits my ability to play.

I was born with a squint in my left eye, to put it mildly as a lazy eye or medically a strabismus. I had surgery at the age of 4 to straighten the eye; one of the eye muscles was severed to achieve this, in the hope that the brain would still be able to learn what that eye sees. Unfortunately, in my case the surgery came too late; it is now done much earlier, and the part of my brain that deciphers what I see through my left eye is not developed. Although my left eye looks normal, I can only see the first large letter on an eye chart with it. With my right eye I can still read the smallest line.

Later in my childhood, when I was at secondary school, I hoped to join the RAF cadets. Part of the test for this was an eye test. Due to the strength of my right eye, this was not a problem. However, it was soon discovered that I was red/green colour blind and would therefore not be accepted. This is a condition that only affects males; only complete colour blindness affects both males and females.

Now to explain how this affects my vision is actually quite difficult. Perhaps the easiest is the lazy eye, called Amblyopia. Basically my peripheral vision is normal, but the central vision in my left eye is non-existent and cannot be corrected in any way. The effect is that I have no depth perception; I can’t see those 3D images. Basically I see the world as a photograph, perhaps an advantage for my hobby. I can’t always judge how far away a ball is and have to judge the length based on where the bowler releases the ball. When I’m batting it often means I’m playing very late and have to concentrate extremely hard, and I can still completely miss it. I also can’t judge my leg side because I can’t see it, and although I’ve toyed with trying to bat left-handed it just doesn’t work.

Red/Green colour blindness is much harder to explain, because you don’t just see one colour or the other. Similar shades blend together and a cricket ball can suddenly become invisible. Up close it’s not a problem, but combined with the lack of depth perception it can make seeing a ball very difficult. Add to that pitches like Eaton, with no screens, trees on one side and red bricks on the other; the ball just isn’t there. Interestingly, pink balls aren’t much better, but orange balls are considerably easier to see. More pertinently, there is no law saying a ball has to be red, so we continue to actively discriminate against men in our beloved game.

When I was a teenager I joined a local cricket club’s winter training program with a view to playing in their U16s the following summer. Of course playing indoors with yellow or orange balls caused some problems and I remember doing very well. However, red balls caused a lot of problems when we moved outdoors and I made no progress. Nothing was said about my eye problems and in fact I was asked to leave, with the response being: You’ll never make a cricketer. I then spent a few years batting at number 11 and not bowling while playing friendly cricket. I was not trusted and was not given any opportunities to bowl, despite the results being insignificant, until I returned from my first year at university. I could hit balls into deliveries of 5-10 yards but was hopeless at playing a ball bowled 22 yards.

This has become a matter of proving the doubters wrong for me, and it has driven me throughout my cricket career and is almost certainly the driving force behind my competitive nature. I am completely self-taught as a bowler and have been exploring how I can bowl differently to maintain reasonable success as I get older and slower. I know my action is not quite where it should be, but it works for me. Batting has always been an experiment; I have found the open, upright stance to be the most beneficial to me. It has also fuelled my coaching ambitions, because no child should ever have the experiences I had all those years ago. I want the older youth players to come into the adult teams, continue their development and be given those opportunities.

I finally came out with my story, just over a year ago, and am now classified as partially sighted. While most accept it, there are those who question the validity of my story. I will not give in, although equality in cricket in the UK is a persistent misconception. I am proud to have just received a call-up to represent the county at senior level.

Christian Partridge, GP

Christiaan Partridge is a GP, photographer, football coach and cricket coach. Christiaan picked up a camera relatively late in life and has recently completed a First Class Honours degree in Photography from the University of Chester. For the past 7 years he has been a youth football coach and also an ECB Core Cricket Coach. Christiaan also has extensive experience in running amateur sports clubs, specialises in landscape photography and has a particular interest in therapeutic photography to treat mild mental health conditions.