“If someone said ‘you can go back in time and not get diagnosed with cancer’ I probably wouldn’t change it. It’s given me so many incredible moments.”
Callum Flynn, 30, became the first ever England Men’s Mixed Disability captain last summer, and is currently leading them on their first oversees tour, taking place in India.
The England Cricket Board (ECB) launched the Mixed Disability team last year to combine three groups: physical disability (PD), learning disability (PD) and deaf or hard of hearing.
Flynn acknowledged there was a time when he didn’t know disability cricket even existed. It was a rocky journey that led him to the pinnacle of his sport.
Flynn was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, in his right knee at Pendlebury Children’s Hospital in Salford on his fourteenth birthday. After undergoing chemotherapy for seven months, he had a full titanium knee replacement in July 2009, before finishing his treatment in September of the same year.
He was trialling for Lancashire at the time of his diagnosis, finding his way into disability cricket through a friend.
Flynn admitted he was apprehensive about taking part in disability sport at first: “It was quite tough at first because I was a kid who was hoping to make it pro, and all of a sudden [I was] playing disability cricket. The first session or two was a bit of an eye opener…I was a bit taken back by it.”
“It’s risky to say, but I think it’s a lot easier being born with your disability, because you’ve never known anything different. It’s a little bit difficult”
“[Going from] playing a really good standard of junior cricket and then going ‘oh you’ve got a disability’…you had to get your head around that as a teenage lad which is never easy”.
Flynn stuck with disability cricket and quickly rose through the county system. He first played for Lancashire in a Roses clash against Yorkshire, scoring 40 not out in his first game. He was soon recommended to the England selectors:
“There was a couple of England lads playing for Yorkshire and one of them was a really good friend …and he recommended me to the England coaches.”
“So I got a letter through inviting me down to a weekend in Worcestershire, which was the trials weekend back then to get into the squad. …That was that I was buzzing to be able to get a letter with an ECB banner on it and the ECB header, that was a little nice moment back then”
Flynn was added to the Men’s disability side in 2012 for their first ever tour to Dubai, something he described as “a real pinch me moment”. The side went on to win the first ever Physical Disability World Cup in 2015.
By 2025, Flynn was a World Cup winner, had carried the Olympic torch and had played for his country for 12 years when he was asked to captain the first Mixed Disability side.
The format has regulations to ensure each impairment is duly represented. Three of each impairment must be included in the starting XI, an individual from each impairment must bowl at least four overs, and at least one from each impairment must be included in the top four of the batting order.
Being the first player to captain a side composed of different impairments at an international level, Flynn spoke about the challenges he faces:
“Sometimes you’re halfway between the 12th over and you just find yourself counting how many physical disability, learning disability and deaf overs you’ve got left just to make sure you’ve got your sums right. You can never really switch off in a game because of it.”
On the decision to bring Mixed Disability Cricket to the international stage, the ECB’s director of disability cricket, Ian Martin, said:
“The game hadn’t grown. There were no more countries coming on board…and a big reason for that was that there’s too many different organisations to deal with.”
“Cricket boards [have] only got a certain amount of money, so if we’ve got to divide that money four ways, then it’s not going to get as far.”
The summer series was seen as a huge success at the ECB, growing the game massively. The side were given the opportunity to play at Lord’s, the most historic ground in cricket, which was a career highlight for Flynn:
“It’s something that won’t really settle in until I retire… something that you probably look back on in years to come and tell the kids and grandkids about”
The tour of India is another stepping stone in the growth of disability cricket, with the two sides contesting a five match T20 series. Being cricket’s biggest and most fanatical audience, growing the game in India will be crucial to increasing investment and visibility of the disability game.
“India is such a massive country to have on board in disability cricket” said Flynn. “Once it says England and India [are playing] they’re not bothered whether it says England and India disability.”
“Who knows, maybe in 10 years’ time they might do a disabled Indian Premier League”
The dream could be a reality sooner than that. The ECB’s investment has grown from £100,000 to £2 million in the last 20 years, with data suggesting the game has grown from around 1,000 to 72,000 players. There’s no doubt the appetite for the game is booming.
“I want to make cricket the most inclusive team sport globally,” said Martin.
“It’s not about the disability. It’s just a game of cricket… and if you if you love this sport then it doesn’t matter at all to you.”
England’s tour of India kicks off Thursday 29th of February and can be watched on the ECB’s Website.