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England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan was put through his paces like never before during a recent net session at Lord’s.
Morgan joined the England Visually Impaired squad for practice as they prepare for the upcoming Blind Cricket Ashes in Australia.
Matt Dean’s side will play three Twenty20s and five one-day internationals Down Under as they seek to regain the Ashes, having lost 3-0 at home to Australia in 2012.
Left-hander Morgan experienced batting with glasses limiting his vision to the B3, B2 and finally B1 categories – the latter being completely blind.
In visually impaired cricket, a plastic ball containing ball bearings is delivered underarm, and must bounce at least twice.
Having been bowled by two of the first three balls he faced wearing B3 “partially sighted” glasses, Morgan told ecb.co.uk: “You couldn’t see a great deal – or I certainly didn’t – so it presented a lot of challenges.
“The one thing I did notice from the get-go is how much your senses are enhanced once your sight is taken away.
“It’s a credit to these guys that they’re fantastic at what they do.”
And after wearing the B1 glasses, the left-hander added: “I’ve a huge amount of admiration for these guys.”
Source: ECB