Emily Vickery has just been appointed as the disability participation officer for the Somerset Cricket Foundation - with the aim of giving everybody, whatever their disability, the chance to enjoy playing cricket.

Emily will need little introduction to the local cricketing community because she started playing cricket for the Taunton CC junior sides, and currently plays local league cricket for Long Sutton where as well as helping to run the All Stars Programme, she plays for the Ladies team and also the Mens Second XI, where she bats at four or five.

Emily went onto play girls and ladies cricket for Taunton and gained her Level 1 and Level 2 coaching badges while she was at university.

She sai: “In 2020 I took a job as a community coach at the Somerset Cricket Foundation, which started in March that year, then Covid came along and I did no delivery for the first four months and then in September I went back into schools and worked on the virtual coaching programme that we delivered during the January 2021 lockdown.”

In 2021 Emily won Schools Coach of the Year with Chance to Shine, the charity that enables coaches to go and deliver in state schools.

“Throughout this time I had been working with Steve Gass on the Super 1s Disability Programme and now I have just been appointed as the Somerset Cricket Foundation's disability participation officer," she said.

So what is the new programme all about?

“I will be working with day care providers and local cricket clubs to create a new adult disability programme within the community," she said.

“To start with we will go to the day care providers and run up to six weeks of taster cricket which needs to fit with them. We will try to link together a few providers so that there is a social aspect to it with a monthly meet up at maybe a sports hall, where they can facilitate cricket themselves - maybe some sort of games or cricketing activities.

“Then in the summer we are hoping to work with the local cricket clubs using that provider, in addition to which volunteers at the cricket club can run an eight to 10-week programme throughout the summer.

“We have put out a few adverts for volunteers so hopefully people will come forward who want to be involved with us on the programme.”

Initially the programme will focus on the Taunton and Somerset West and Sedgemoor, looking to work with providers there before it’s expanded across the county over the next three years.

Emily said: “We are having an Open Day for the new project on October 27 between 10am and 1pm when hopefully people will come along and find out more about this exciting new development aimed at giving everyone the chance to enjoy playing cricket.”

People can also find out more by emailing Emily.vickery@somersetcricketfoundationorg.