The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg played host to the Gauteng LSEN festival last week as schools from all around the province sent their students to the annual event.

The festival hosted learners with special education needs and used the platform to identify young talent for further development in disabled cricket. 

The South African Sports Association for the Intellectually Impaired (SASA II), represented by international manager and liaison Winston Stubbs, is working hand-in-hand with KFC and Gauteng Schools Sports for the Intellectually Impaired to breed the next generation of South African stars in disabled cricket.

South Africa is the founding home of disabled cricket and Stubbs has been involved in the programme since the beginning. The first international disabled cricket tournament was held in South Africa in 2005 and since then, the game has developed monumentally across the cricket-playing nations. Stubbs has been part of that journey and expresses joy and a sense of satisfaction when the kids take to the field, singing their national anthem proudly before representing South Africa against the world.

Although the game has suffered minor setbacks in recent years, Stubbs is working tirelessly in an effort to resurrect the discipline in South Africa and, along with KFC Mini Cricket, is keen to identify the talent early in order to get the kids involved in the game, and ultimately take their careers to the next level.