A STUDENT at Pendle Vale College has made his debut for Lancashire’s visually impaired cricket team – despite being just 13-years-old.

Young Mozammel Ali played with and against players more than twice his age when he represented the Lancashire Lions VIC (Visually Impaired Cricket) side on Saturday, September 13.

They were comfortably beaten by their Somerset counterparts in the T20 Cup quarter-final match at Our Lady’s High School, in Manchester, but Ali was one of the counties better performers.

Matthew Burrow, inclusive sport co-ordinator at Pendle Vale, in Nelson, said Ali was a very good player who really enjoyed his cricket.

“I couldn’t make the match but I had an email from the coach who said Mozammel played very well,” he said, “He batted for 11 overs and scored a few boundaries.

“He is a very good cricketer. We started running visually impaired cricket sessions across the North West a few months ago, and Mozammel has been excellent, he seems to really enjoy it.

“We’ve had a couple of coaches from the Lancashire Lions watching and they said they were keeping an eye on him.

“He played a junior game at Headingley a few weeks ago and was then called up for this adults game against Somerset.”

Ali is the youngest player to have played in the visually impaired competition, and is tipped to play at international level in the future.

His presence couldn’t help the Lions reach the semi-finals though, as they were beaten by 100 runs, managing just 101 in response to the away side’s 201.

“He’s a really great kid,” said Mr Burrow. “I’ve had him on quite a few different trips and he has never been any trouble.

“Some students can be a bit embarrassed about playing visually impaired sport but he has embraced it and really enjoys it.”