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Friday, January 10, 2020

Blind teen cricketer Sean Kendrick hopeful of 'great honour' to play for Australia

By
Sport Access Foundation
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Story and photo by Michael Rennie - ABC News

Teenager Sean Kendrick is on the cusp of being possibly the youngest blind cricketer to represent Australia, with the 15-year-old playing for Queensland at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships (NCIC) in Geelong, in Victoria, next week.

A good performance there could see Sean picked in the Australia side that will tour England later this year.

"I'd beat Naseem Shah's record for the youngest kid to ever play cricket for Australia, or any team in the world, which would be cool," he said.

The only difference — Sean is blind and plays blind cricket — a sport he only took up two years ago.

"Originally, I tried a tryout at the Gabba and I liked it and ever since then I was like 'Mum, come on I want to go, I want to see what it's like for a batter'," he said.
"Then I tried out for blind golf and Dad said: 'Which one's better, cricket or golf?', and I said: 'cricket', so I went with the cricket — two years later I find myself in the Queensland team."

Sean was born with bilateral anophthalmia, a rare condition that meant he was born without eyes.

But his mother Melissa Kendrick said that had not stopped him from seeking out his dreams.

"He also has participated in some triathlons," she said.
"He actually has a guide who trains with him and does running programs as well with him for his running."

Sean also trains regularly with his father.

"His dad does all the training on that part," Ms Kendrick said.
"He quite regularly takes him to the local cricket nets and they do a lot of practice and drills.
"They also have training sessions during the week as well, especially close to competitions."

'It would just be a great honour'

Sean said he had been working on his game in preparation for the NCIC.

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