Access team showcase talent and highlight SEN hub benefits in Edgbaston outing

Joe Chapman

2026-09-15T06:00+01:00

England’s recent Test match victory over Pakistan at Edgbaston will live long in the memory of a number of young people from Warwickshire and Birmingham.

Day one of the Test was designated Warwickshire Cricket Foundation Day, on which the work, in all of its forms, carried out by our team across the region was celebrated and supported by the Club.

As well as raising much needed money over the course of the day to help fund our operations and programmes, there were opportunities afforded to a number of young people to experience cricket - and for many it was a first visit to Edgbaston.

While children from a local school joined both sets of players for the pre-match anthems, Warwickshire Cricket Foundation’s Access team were given the platform to showcase their skills and abilities on the outfield during the lunch interval.

“We had around 30 kids and young adults from across our programmes come for free to watch the cricket,” Nigel Perry-Ogden, our Disability Development Officer, explained. “They had a great day and they were also able to come and play cricket on the outfield, which was a fantastic opportunity for them.

“They relished it, they were really excited walking around the back of the Hollies about getting on the pitch. It was amazing.”

The Access team represent Warwickshire in disability cricket and are made up of players who participate in the Super 9s and the D40 teams. The Super 1s, which is supported by Lord’s Taverners, helps young people, no matter the disability, get into the sport and improve their physical health.

The youngsters attend sessions at one of ten SEN hubs which are dotted around the county, sessions which are orchestrated by Nigel and his team of coaches Sachi Manokaran and Dean Wattison.

The continuation of funding remains imperative, though, as Nigel outlines.

“We are out across Warwickshire and Birmingham and we run ten hubs across the county, from the other side of Coventry, down to Stratford and everything in between,” he said.

“All that activity is made possible by the Lord's Taverners, who we have a fantastic relationship with, and then other bonus bits like this.

“Our Warwickshire teams play in national competitions, which is made possible by the Warwickshire Cricket Foundation.

“That activity requires money and funding and donations. Days like Wednesday are great, but we're only able to do them because of the generosity of others and the funding we get in.

“Our hubs and all our activities are open to everybody. It's a great space for people to meet other like-minded people and feel like it's a place for them, and that's really what we want to do.”

Warwickshire Cricket Foundation’s mantra, Cricket Without Limits, is perhaps not better demonstrated than within the hubs.

Anyone is welcome to come along and join in the sessions, no matter your disability and not only play cricket and make friends, but also access the other various forms of support available to them.

“Cricket is for everybody and, actually, it is more than just cricket,” Nigel explained. “Of course, cricket is our central focus and that's what brings us together, but our programme is about improving them and making them better as people, and starting that from as soon as they join us.

“They make friends.  They build confidence. We do a whole lot of other stuff, including employability work and workshops, that they might not get otherwise.

“Yes cricket is the reason we're all here, but we actually manage to impact them on a much wider scale as well.”

Nigel also paid tribute to the staff who he works with, who oversee excellent sessions in which young people are able to enjoy sport in a supportive environment, under the supervision of expert coaching.

“More than with any other group, you know where you stand,” he added. “You get that instant feedback and, more often than not, that instant gratification.

“You need to be the right kind of person to be able to work with groups like this, but it is, honestly, some of the most rewarding work I've ever done - and I wouldn't change it.”

British gymnastics champion Reuben, who plays in the Access team and who was joined by his mother and grandfather on the day, said: “I love being here, being home. I gave the cameras a wave when I was on the pitch! I played some shots on the pitch, earlier I got a four. I am an all-rounder. I just love playing cricket.”