A special dinner held to celebrate the life and achievements of England and Yorkshire cricketer Fred Trueman has raised £3,000 for disabled cricket to help fund the England Blind team's bid to win the upcoming Ashes series for cricketers with visual impairment.

ECB National Disability Cricket Manager Ian Martin received the £3,000 cheque from Geoff Hastings, chief organiser of the dinner held in the Nursery Pavilion at Lord's in November where raffle prizes included a round of golf with Sir Richard Hadlee.

Martin said: “We are really delighted that Geoff and his team have decided to support disability cricket. It’s a growing area of the game which constantly needs funding, and cash boosts like this can do an enormous amount for our sport.

“We are hoping to emulate England’s Women later this year as the England blind team are scheduled to take on Australia’s blind team in the Ashes series for cricketers with visual impairment. This money could make all the difference.”

The ECB currently support three international teams under the disability cricket umbrella; England deaf team, England blind team and England learning disability team.

Hastings said: “We held a dinner last year and were keen for the proceeds to go to disability cricket. We have been hugely impressed by developments in the sport and wish Ian and his team well this season.”

The dinner also raised funds for The Fred Trueman National School Cricket League (U15’s) which was established in 2006 as The David Cross Schools Cricket League (U13’s) where 18 schools from Stamford, Peterborough and Old Huntingdonshire competed for honours.

The League, run by a committee of volunteers, supplies kit and shirts and umpires if required. If the school does not have a pitch, it negotiates with a local club. The most successful negotiation to date is with a local Trust, whose cash facilitated a new cricket pitch to be installed at a local school.

Money has been raised by business, Rotary, Cricket Society Trust, Mrs Cross, the MCC (by the far the largest source of funding) and the Fred Trueman Celebration Dinner.

In its second year, the League expanded into the Spalding area with a further six schools. All of the existing schools took on U15 teams, meaning that the Leagues had over 40 teams playing structured cricket in 2007.

In 2008 a further four schools, comprising eight teams, have informed the League that they wish to join, while now 100 per cent of schools in the original areas have taken on the scheme.

The League is currently attempting its largest project to date. Together with Northampton County Cricket Club, Northampton County Board and the Schools Cricket Association, every Secondary Modern school has been invited to take part. It is estimated that this will take two years to achieve.