Mother and two sons represent New Zealand at Blind World Cup

New Zealand's blind cricketer Donna McCaskill (centre) with her sons

Australia's Christine Casey is not the only woman player participating in the ongoing World Cup for the blind in India (Casey was featured in this newspaper on Sunday). New Zealand's Donna McCaskill is also participating with the men. What makes McCaskill special is the fact that her two sons, Deacan Dunn (15) and Marquele McCaskill (18) are also playing in the tournament. All three - mother and two sons - fall in the B3 category.

McCaskill, who represented New Zealand at the 2006 World Cup, is unmarried. She also looks after other members of the team when not playing.

Helping out teammates
"I prepare drinks for my teammates. I also distribute food packets and help them to wash their hands and act as a physiotherapist when needed.

"My younger son (Deacan) is in school, while Marquele is a University student. It's exciting to play with them," she said. McCaskill has many feathers to her cap. She is president of the New Zealand Blind Cricket Association and also works for the Blind Foundation in Parnell, Auckland.

After having spent more than 20 years as part of vision-impaired sports community, she joined the board of directors of Blind Sport New Zealand last year. A few years ago, she had to plead her case after few countries protested against women being a part of the men's blind team.

Loves challenges
However, she won and is now one of the key members of the New Zealand blind team. "I love challenges and blindness is nowhere a barrier," she signed off.