Suffolk One are hoping to lean on their players’ previous experience of competing on the big stage as they prepare for the 2024 National Table Cricket Finals Day at Lord’s.

The Lord’s Taverners national table cricket competition sees young people with disabilities representing schools from across the country, setting their sights on what for some will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to play at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Table cricket is an adapted version of the traditional game, played on a table tennis table, and is much more accessible to young people living with severe physical or learning disabilities, particularly wheelchair users, who have limited opportunities to participate in sport.

Making the trip to the Home of Cricket on Thursday 27 June, Suffolk One teacher Claire Jones feels much of her team are mentally prepared for the occasion

“We're all really excited,” she said. “Some of my students, they've been before with their previous schools, so they know what to expect.

“This is the first time in about nine years that we as a college have gone through, but some of the students have been before with their previous school, so they're really excited.”

While it’ll be the students holding bat and ball, Jones herself will be living out a childhood dream by coaching at the hallowed venue.

“I'm really excited,” Jones added, “ I grew up as a cricket fan, my dad was a massive cricket fan.

“We've been to Lords once before, to the national finals, but with a completely different group of students.

“They're really looking forward to it. It's a big day out. That in itself is exciting.”

Much of the Lord’s Taverners work in cricket for young people with disabilities is made possible thanks to funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and awarded by the Postcode Active Trust, in addition to support from the ECB and Sport England.

And Jones emphasised the importance of making cricket accessible to everyone regardless of ability, giving all young people equal opportunity for sporting achievement.

“It gives students with disabilities the opportunities that everybody else has,” she said. “Under normal circumstances, a young person with a disability would not be able to play cricket at Lord’s, for example.

“So just that excitement, that opportunity to go to the home of a national sport and to be able to say, ‘I was there, I played cricket there’, it's the same as kids going to Wembley and taking part in a football tournament.

“Actually having those opportunities and organisations like Lord's Taverners who make that possible for them, it just raises their aspirations and makes them feel that they can be included as well.”

The Lord’s Taverners impacts the lives of young people facing the challenges of inequality. The charity works across the UK and beyond to provide inclusive and impactful cricket programmes, empowering young people with disabilities and from disadvantaged communities – visit www.lordstaverners.org