Watch: England cricketer Liam Thomas continues fielding after losing his prosthetic leg
In ICC Academy Dubai Invitational T20 tournament for physically disabled players, in which England, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are taking part, England player Liam Thomas put it all on the line while stopping a ball from crossing the boundary.
Footage emerged showing Thomas losing one of his legs in an attempt to stop the ball. England was playing Pakistan for the finals, when Thomas put in such a heroic feat.
The footage shows Liam losing his prosthetic limb while running for the ball, but he goes on nevertheless and limps to field the ball and send it to his keeper before retrieving his limb. His action was highly appreciated by his teammates.
Thomas said that he was in a dilemma on whether to go for the ball or to retrieve the leg, and he decided for the first one, limping on to salvage the ball. He was quoted saying, “It just happened, really. I was sprinting for the ball, put my hand out, hit the deck hard and the next thing I know I stood up and had no leg,”
“I didn’t know whether to grab the leg or get the ball in. I decided to go for the ball.”
Unfortunately for him and his team, his actions could not win the game for them as Pakistan went on to win the match by 3 wickets. But, Thomas said that the worldwide attention that the incident has received may help to raise the profile of the sport.
“Having a disability, we all take the fun out of each other a little bit, we all have each other’s backs, so we are all trying to give each other grief when something like that happens,” he said.
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Earlier this year, Cricket Australia and Commonwealth Bank had declared a record investment of more than $ 5 million per year for 3 years to benefit the physically disabled players along with Women’s Cricket and Indigenous Cricket, which will thus result in players’ not having to pay to play.
This has made Cricket the first non-Paralympian sport in Australia to be fully integrated and supported for players with disability.
Watch: England cricketer continues fielding after losing his prosthetic leg
Incredible commitment, determination & effort from England PD cricketer Liam Thomas. Video via @sharpfocus_tv #Cricket pic.twitter.com/OLFpw7XtEH
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) October 30, 2016
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