Vitality Mixed Disability T20 International to take place at Lord's as part of this summer’s MCC Festival of Disability Cricket

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has today confirmed that the men’s Vitality Mixed Disability T20 International between England and India will take place at Lord’s on Wednesday 19 August, as part of the MCC Festival of Disability Cricket.

This will be the third straight year that there has been a celebration of Disability Cricket on the fixture list at Lord’s, following on from the historic first match on the Main Ground in 2024.

Next month, MCC will take on the Middlesex Disability Team in a T20 match starting at 10.00, before the England v India match at 15.30, a potential decider between the teams as it will be the seventh match of their T20I series, which takes in grounds such as Arundel Castle, Derby, Hove, and Leicester.

Aside from the two showpiece matches on the Main Ground at Lord’s, there will again be a huge celebration of Disability Cricket around many areas of the Ground with various activities taking place, such as:

• Electric Umbrella returning to Lord’s for a special performance on the outfield, which will take place between matches
• Community cricket open sessions will also arrive on the outfield during the interval between the main games
• On the Nursery Ground, there will be VI cricket demonstrations, along with community cricket activity open sessions
• The Middlesex/Lord’s Taverners Super 1’s tournament will be held in the Vitality Performance Centre
• The MCC Museum will be hosting open sessions for table cricket, whilst the Tours Department will run free accessible tours of Lord’s at 11.00 and 13.00

Rob Lynch, Director of Cricket and Operations at MCC, said: “The success of Disability Cricket Day over the past two years is a reminder of the impact that cricket can have when barriers are removed and opportunities are created. As we look ahead to the third year of this event, we’re excited that Lord’s is a place where everyone can see a pathway into cricket and achieve their potential.”

The Mixed Disability format sees players from the Physical Disability, Learning Disability and Deaf teams coming together to form one team. England and India met last summer in the inaugural international series of Mixed Disability cricket, with England coming out on top. 

Ian Martin, Head of Disability Cricket, said: “It’s easy sometimes to forget how far the game has come, but for our players to be playing again at Lord’s this summer is not something we’ll take for granted. It’s special – for them and for anyone who cares about disability sport. I am sure this summer’s Mixed Disability series will be as good as last summer’s, and I’m hoping to see more people coming out to watch high-quality disability cricket.”