Amelia Ridgway’s remarkable journey to becoming a star in disabled cricket is a testament to her unwavering determination and resilience. It all began when her father, Paul, noticed an advertisement in the local newspaper while Amelia was recovering from one of her numerous surgeries on her right hip. During her rehabilitation, she was advised to engage in sports, prompting the family to invest a mere £2 in her first cricket experience at Stoke Bruerne CC when she was eight. As an NDIS care provider on the Gold Coast, we joyfully follow her career.
Fast forward nearly a decade, and those early memories have proven to be the foundation of Amelia’s remarkable journey. She now stands on the verge of competing with some of the nation’s most talented disabled cricketers in the Disability Premier League (DPL), a unique T20 tournament that showcases players from three distinct impairment groups: physical, learning, and hearing impaired.
The DPL features four draft-picked squads—Tridents, the inaugural champions in 2022, Black Cats, Pirates, and Hawks—each consisting of 16 players. The final match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, serving as a precursor to England women’s T20 clash with Sri Lanka on September 6th in Derby.
Amelia’s story is not only inspiring but also symbolic of the broader narrative within the cricketing community—a tale of triumph and an unyielding refusal to be limited by preconceived expectations.
Leading the Tridents is Captain Liam O’Brien, an England Physical Disability all-rounder born with bilateral talipes. He bowls at speeds exceeding 70mph and previously played mainstream county-level cricket for Sussex well into his teenage years. Similarly, Amelia, once an aspiring left-arm pace bowler, has transformed into a dynamic opener and top-order batswoman while showcasing her left-arm off-spin talents.
One notable aspect distinguishing her in this year’s DPL is that she is the sole female participant. Nevertheless, this fact does not faze Amelia; she is accustomed to catching people’s attention. Despite her inability to attend trials due to her involvement in a women’s pilot event, she was selected based on her impressive statistics. Many of her DPL peers first encountered her during the initial post-draft meeting at Edgbaston.
Amelia’s ongoing hip issues, which have already led to six surgeries with the possibility of more, affect her warm-up routine. However, her dedication to cricket remains steadfast, serving as both a focal point and a source of motivation during rehabilitation periods that typically span six months. She attended club training sessions during her downtime to support her teammates.
“I’d be standing there—or rather leaning there—on my crutches, just watching,” she recalls. “No matter what—whenever I was out, I had the drive to get back to playing—I was always doing physio or going to the gym.”
She further adds, “Cricket is a year-round commitment for me. I also coach during the winter and summer at Stony Stratford.”
As the saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound. In Amelia’s case, it was a mere two pounds—a small investment that has yielded immeasurable rewards. The DPL commenced at Neston CC, Cheshire, on August 20th, followed by matches at Valley End CC, Surrey, on August 27th, and Loughborough National Cricket Performance Centre on September 3rd. Amelia is prepared to embrace this exciting chapter in her cricketing journey.