In August 2010 Cricket Australia (CA) and Deaf Cricket Australia (DCA) received news that, for the second time in two years, the Deaf Cricket World Cup had been cancelled – only four months before it was scheduled to be held in New Zealand. The two organisations immediately started work with Deaf Sports Australia (DSA) and The Lord’s Taverners Australia to plan an alternative but equally significant event.

CA made an agreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board to host a deaf cricket Ashes and Tri series on Australian soil. But the agreement only gave the Australian organisations eight weeks to put together an international standard tournament. Fortunately, a group of passionate people from the four organisations pulled together to create history.

On 17–27 January the group hosted The Lord’s Taverners Deaf Cricket Ashes Series (Australia vs. England) and Tri Nations Series (Australia, South Africa and England) of 50-over and Twenty20 matches at

Geelong Grammar School. All teams attended a welcome function at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during an Australia versus England one-day international and met Sports Minister Mark Arbib and executive members of CA.

The partnership brought together a national sporting organisation with two peak volunteer-run groups and not-for-profit organisation The Lord’s Taverners. It was described as an enlightening and extremely beneficial partnership, and all gained invaluable insights into how each organisation operates and some of the barriers to successful communication. CA was subsequently named Organisation of the Year at the 2010 Deaf Sports Australia awards.

Since 2005 CA has been supported both financially and in terms of resources by the Australian Sports Commission through Sports CONNECT. Sports CONNECT is a national framework that develops pathways for people with disability to move from independent participation in sport to utilising the resources of national sporting organisations.

Through Sports CONNECT more people with disability are recognising the social and health benefits from being involved in sport and sporting organisations are becoming aware of the benefits of involving people with disability either as participants, administrators, volunteers, coaches or officials.