Hampshire cricket Board chairman Jeff Levick is the co-ordinator for disabled cricket in Hampshire. Here, he illustrates what can be done....

There can be no better example of the Board's provision of opportunity for the under privileged than the story of Lee Jay and his meteoric progress in the game.

Lee started to play the game as a 14 year old at Lankhills Special School in Winchester in some of the early coaching sessions offered by the Board to Special Needs Schools. A gold medal in the schools' festival that year was followed by a Danny Bond League (the special schools/club competition) winners medal.

He next started to distinguish himself in the Disabled county team.

Last autumn the ECB took part in the first ever Learning Difficulties Tri Nations Tournament in South Africa and Lee was appointed captain. The highlight of his year came with an invitation to Buckingham Palace to attend the cricket reception given following the England players' investiture.

Lee benefited from the ambitious activities of the Disabilities Group, who this year will work in 38 schools. They're specifically for special needs pupils and those with physical difficulties who attend mainstream schools. Each special group has its own competition, playing a modified game to meet their abilities. The Festivals will be run this year in late June and early July.

The Board is indebted to Winchester City Council and the Broadhalfpenny Down Association, who provide free facilities for the Festivals. This programme has been so successful that other major sports, notably soccer and rugby have started similar activities.

Some of the players are able to progress to join mainstream cricket clubs, but the Board has started to set up clubs to provide the opportunity to play against others with similar disabilities. This development is progressing, but it desperately needs volunteers to provide club infrastructure of secretaries, managers and treasurers.

The Board is grateful to the Local Network Fund for its support for all its disability activities.

This year the HCB has joined forces with Toynbee School in Chandlers Ford, the secondary school unit for visually impaired pupils, to set up a league of three or four visually impaired teams. They will be playing against each other at the Rose Bowl on June 27. It's hoped that a Hampshire team can be recruited to play against Sussex and London later in the year.

We have not yet managed to explore the opportunities for deaf cricketers. Deafness probably causes the greatest feeling of loneliness of all the disabilities. We know there are plenty who would like to take part, and they will soon be on our agenda!