South Launceston cricketer Connor Sheppard has improved out of sight, according to long-time mentor Liam Devlin.
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So it's no surprise the 21-year-old has again been selected for the 14-player national intellectual disability squad for the International Cricket Inclusion Series.
He has the opportunity to be selected for five Twenty20s and three one-day matches when Australia takes on arch-enemy England in Brisbane from June 8-17.
The promising cricketer said the chance to battle a traditional rival made it sweeter.
"It's a dream come true to play England, it's going to be a tough challenge," he said.
"England are a pretty strong side and I believe we can get better too."
Sheppard, an all-rounder who has played third and fourth grade with South Launceston, has been honing his batting skills.
"I've been developing more my batting than bowling, I can still bowl but I see myself as a batsman more now," he said.
"I've been learning the techniques of the greatest batsmen of all time and thinking about the changes I need to make to my batting.
"My idol with batting would be Marnus Labuschagne, in the bowling department it would be Mitchell Starc."
Devlin, who is coach of Tasmania's intellectual disability side, has been appointed assistant coach of the national team for the first time.
He's thrilled for Sheppard.
"Connor's cricket has improved since I first saw him at club cricket," he said.
"I was lucky enough to have him at South Launceston when I was coach there.
"He's grown a massive amount. He's gone from an opening bowler to a middle-order batsman who's extremely reliable.
"We get good overs out of him when he plays for Tassie and his cricket has grown out of sight."
Sheppard made the Aussie squad for the INAS Global Games tri-series against England and South Africa in 2019.
The national disability squads haven't been able to participate in international cricket since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Craig Blaschke (Rokeby Cricket Club), Joel Corbett (Old Beach) and Zeb Hovington (Ulverstone) are the three other Tasmanians in the squad.
The group was selected after a camp in Hobart and trains twice a week. There are satellite coaches around the state who mentor the players.
Devlin said it was great to have a strong Tassie contingent.
"I think Cricket Tasmania and New Horizons can take the credit for that one, the way they've grown the program and the way they've made it visible for everybody," he said.
"Our numbers keep growing and it keeps on unearthing more cricketers for us."
New Horizons is an inclusive sport and recreation organisation with membership open to people with any disability from the age of five and above and their families.
Devlin said the players were pumped for the tournament.
"They're extremely passionate, they thrive on this sort of cricket and this is what gets them going," he said.
"The national carnival is exactly the same, they all look forward to it. It's just like mainstream cricket, where everybody gets disappointed if they miss out and people really want to be part of it. To have that sort of commitment from these guys is amazing."
Devlin said it was crucial to have major events like the Inclusion Series.
"It's extremely important, it gives these guys that visibility nationally and gives them the opportunity to be showcased, I think that's the most important thing," he said.
"We've had small businesses come on board and sponsor."
Devlin, who got involved with the state's intellectual disability squad about a decade ago, explained how it had grown.
"We started off with the indoor side at the national carnival. I think that very first year, we had just enough to fill an indoor squad," he said.
"So that was 10 players and then from there, that very same year, we graduated to an outdoor program.
"From that outdoor program, where I think we had the bare 13, we've now grown to 45 in the last 10 years and have 50 players to select from.
"It's a really strong program among the other states as well."
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