Cricket East

Huntingdonshire Under 17 Cricketer Kester Sainsbury has been named at the age of just 16 as part of a 15-man England Learning Disability squad on their tour of Australia, beginning on 28 September.

Kester plays for Middlesex as part of their disability squad and has impressed enough for selection to the national side for the first ever time.

Between October 8-18, England will take on Australia in three One-Day Internationals and five IT20s, all taking place in Brisbane.

The IT20s form part of the INAS Global Games – world’s biggest sports event for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Kester is one of five players touring with an England squad for the first time!

England Learning Disability Head Coach, Derek Morgan, said: “We’re excited to be able to take a strong squad to Australia for the INAS Global Games.

“Matches against Australia always bring an added intensity and I’m sure both sides will be spurred on by the inspirational performances we saw in this summer’s Specsavers Ashes series.
“We’ve enjoyed good success in Australia in recent years and hope to continue that run on this tour.”

Ian Martin, ECB Head of Disability Cricket, said: “It’s great to have cricket as part of a global multi-sport event such as the INAS Games and we hope this will increase the exposure for our athletes and our sport. The Games are a great opportunity for our players to showcase their cricketing skills and also their values and behaviours as international athletes.

We enjoyed a fantastic Physical Disability World Series on home soil this summer, where England finished runners-up and I can’t wait to see our Learning Disability squad put in equally inspirational performances next month.”

The full squad heading to Australia is listed below and you can keep an eye on the scores via the ECB website to track Kester's progress! We wish Kester the best of luck in Australia

England Learning Disability squad for tour of Australia

Chris Edwards (c) (Cheshire)
Dan Bowser (Devon)
Jordyn Dore (Hampshire)
Jonathan Gale (Surrey)
Ronnie Jackson (Essex)
Alex Jervis (Yorkshire)
Martin Henderson (Middlesex)
Rob Hewitt (Yorkshire)
Dan Levey (Surrey)
Kieran McKinney (Staffordshire)
Andrew Mowatt (Kent)
Jack Perry (Cheshire)
Kester Sainsbury (Middlesex)
Tom Wilson (Lancashire)
Tayler Young (Surrey)