Table Of ContentEmbodiment, Identity and
Disability Sport
This book investigates the complex relationship between embodiment, identity
and disability sport, based on ethnographic research with an international-level
visually impaired cricket team. Alongside issues of empowerment, classification
and valorisation, it conceptualises the sensuous dimension of being in disability
sport and challenges the idealised notion of the sporting body.
It explores the players’ lived experiences of participating and competing in
an elite disabled sport culture and uses an embodied theoretical approach draw
ing upon sociology, phenomenology and contemporary disability theory to
examine aspects of this previously unexamined research “site,” both on and off
the pitch. Written in a way that values and accurately represents the partici
pants’ traditionally marginalised voices, the book analyses the role that elite dis
ability sport plays in the construction of identity and helps us to better
understand the relationships between disability, sport and wider society.
Embodiment, Identity and Disability Sport is essential reading for any stu
dent, researcher, practitioner or policymaker working in disability sport, and
a source of useful new perspectives for anybody with an interest in the soci
ology of sport or disability studies.
Ben Powis is Lecturer at the School of Sport, Health and Social Sciences,
Solent University, UK. His research interests lie in the sociology of disability
sport, the embodied experiences of visually impaired people in sport and phys
ical activity and investigating the significance of sensuous sporting experiences.
Disability Sport and Physical Activity Cultures
Series Editor:
P. David Howe
Loughborough University, UK
The Disability, Sport and Physical Activity Cultures series provides an outlet for
high-quality books concerned with the politics and policy of sport broadly
defined. It gives shape to, and showcases, the burgeoning academic field of “Dis
ability Sport Studies and Adapted Physical Activity.” Books within the series
engage critically with the nature of sport and physical activity and the socio
cultural significance that this has on people with disabilities. A particular aim of
the series is to encourage critical reflection on the cultural politics, governance,
management and philosophy of disability sport and physical activity cultures.
Available in this series:
Leveraging Disability Sport Events
Impacts, Promises, and Possibilities
Laura Misener, Gayle McPherson, David McGillivray and David Legg
Embodiment, Identity and Disability Sport
An Ethnography of Elite Visually Impaired Athletes
Ben Powis
Embodiment, Identity and
Disability Sport
An Ethnography of Elite Visually
Impaired Athletes
Ben Powis
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Ben Powis
The right of Ben Powis to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-32270-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-31767-5 (ebk)
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For Kit
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
List of abbreviations ix
1 An introduction to visually impaired cricket:
the opening delivery 1
2 Disability, sport and social theory 13
3 Visually impaired cricket and the senses 46
4 Disability sport and empowerment: from the playground to
the Oval 78
5 Classification and the hierarchy of sight: valorisation of
disabled sporting bodies 110
6 Identity formation through disability sport 141
7 Embodiment, identity and disability sport: the close of play 174
Index 184
Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the assistance and support of
many people.
David Howe, for inviting me to contribute to this burgeoning book series and
your support during the writing process; Dan Burdsey, from undergraduate tutor
to critical friend, I value your ongoing mentorship and your input at various
points in the creation of this book; my colleagues at Solent University and
former colleagues at University of Brighton, particularly those who took the
time to give feedback on the manuscript and the original thesis, including Kola
Adeosun, Thomas Carter, Tansy Jessop, Katharine Jones, Claire Saunders, Misi
Szerovay and Belinda Wheaton.
I am also indebted to my family and friends. Ellie, for always being there
and loving me unconditionally; Mike and Julie, for your support in all aspects
of my life and for bringing me up in a loving family; Amy, Femi and Talitha,
for your encouragement during this process; Tim, for our long and joyful friend
ship; Andy, Emily and Arthur, for your motivational words and gentle nudging
when necessary; and Greig, for introducing me to the world of disability
cricket.
A special thanks goes to the participants who gave up their time to take part
in this research and provided me with an insight into this incredible game.
I hope I did your stories justice.
I am grateful to Taylor & Francis and Sage Publishing for permission to
reproduce previously published material from the following publications: Powis,
B. (2018). Visual Impairment, Sport and Somatic Work: The Auditory Experi
ences of Blind and Partially Sighted Cricket Players. The Senses and Society,
13(2): 147–162. DOI: 10.1080/17458927.2018.1468689; Powis, B. (2018). “We
are playing for England, we wear the same shirt; just because I have
a disability, it doesn’t make me any different”: Empowerment, Eliteness and
Visually Impaired Cricket. European Journal of Sport and Society, 15(2):
189–206. DOI: 10.1080/16138171.2018.1459232; and Powis, B. and Macbeth,
J.L. (2019). “We know who is a cheat and who is not. But what can you do?”:
Athletes’ Perspectives on Classification in Visually Impaired Sport. Inter
national Review for the Sociology of Sport. Copyright © 2019 Sage Publishing.
DOI: 10.1177/1012690218825209.
Abbreviations
BBS British Blind Sport
BCEW Blind Cricket England and Wales
BCODP The British Council of Organisations of Disabled People
CDS Critical Disability Studies
DPI Disabled Peoples’ International
ECB England and Wales Cricket Board
IBSA International Blind Sports Federation
IOC International Olympic Committee
IPC International Paralympic Committee
ODI One Day International
PA Physical Activity
RNIB Royal National Institute of Blind People
UPIAS Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation
VI Visually Impaired
WBCC World Blind Cricket Council
WHO World Health Organization
