This is a club run by disabled people for disabled people.
Who better to discuss the history of the Club than Julian Bellew, who was the driving force behind its inception in 1997.
We spoke to Julian recently to discuss the rise and rise of Somerset Disabled Cricket Club.
Let’s start at the start. How did the Club come into being?
“I went to a special school for disabled children, and I played cricket with all my mates at every break and lunch time,” he explained. “When we left school, that opportunity was no longer there because we didn’t feel like we could compete in mainstream cricket. So, a few of us started playing together. I was a massive Somerset fan and had been a Member for many years and thought that it would be great if we could play disabled cricket for the County that I loved. I was already playing a bit for a South West team and there was a fledgling England side that I was fortunate enough to be picked for.
“I wrote to Peter Anderson, who was the Somerset Chief Executive at the time, and he put that letter on the desk of a man named Andrew Moulding who worked for Somerset Cricket Board. Andrew, or Moulders as he would become known to us all, invited me in and said that it was something that they would love to do. He asked me what we would need to get this off the ground and I suggested that we hold a taster day. We made some posters and things like that, and I remember stuffing loads of envelopes to any organisation that could promote the sessions: GP surgeries, care providers, day centres etc. We invited people to come along to the Centre of Excellence and waited to see who would turn up.
“Myself, Moulders and an amazing man by the name of Dan Hodges were nervously waiting in the indoor school that morning thinking that no one was going to turn up, but we were inundated! 45 people came through the door that day. It was great!
“All we needed now was to get out there on the field at the County Ground. We booked in a date to play Lancashire (who were the only other disabled County Club at the time), we picked a team, but it absolutely bucketed down with rain! We ended up having an indoor game. They thrashed us, but it didn’t matter because we had started our journey. I may have lit the spark, but it was Moulders’ determination and drive that got us going. I can’t speak highly enough of Somerset County Cricket Club and the Board, as it was then, because they delivered pretty much everything that we ever asked for.
“Dan Hodges definitely deserves a special mention. He was a legend in our eyes. He coached us from 1997 until he passed away a few years ago. He was still coaching us towards the end when he had Parkinson’s Disease because he really wanted to be there with us. I remember that we got to the final of the County Championship in the year that Dan passed away. There was a lot of emotion that day. It was a game we should have won but we somehow threw it away. It was an emotional dressing room afterwards because everyone wanted to win it for Dan. Thankfully, we went on to win it the following year and I think the year after that as well. Every year we still hold an event called Dan’s Day where our players play against friends and family, we have a hog roast and raise money for charity.”
