England XI's Dutch tour led by Barkby United cricketer Tom Flowers

The ECB England Learning Disability squad on tour EMN-180108-083558002

Flowers, the director of cricket at Barkby United, took the team to Deventer Cricket Club where they were involved in a four-way round robin tournament against mainstream squads Netherlands Under 17s, Yorkshire U17 and Denmark U17.

The English side defeated Denmark, and had a close game against Yorkshire, but were outclassed against the hosts, many of whom have appeared in the Netherlands Under 19 squad, and are being lined up for the next U19 World Cup.

“The squad can be proud of their efforts over the five days, with temperatures hitting 37 degrees and three back-to-back 50-over matches,” said Flowers.

Flowers became involved with the ECB England Learning Disability side in 2015 as assistant coach EMN-180108-083648002

“The players no doubt learnt a lot by competing against three strong mainstream cricket sides, and to get an international win against Denmark was very pleasing.”

The tour comes before a busy winter schedule, starting in September, in preparation for next year’s INAS (International Federation for Intellectual Impairment Sport) Global Games, in Brisbane.