Steph Jobson can't legally drive and when she walks around she trips over things.

She is blind…she has just two per cent of the vision most of us take for granted. She likens it to staring at life through a pinprick.

Steph Jobson. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

But now aged 40 and with two toddlers not demanding too much of her time, Steph has discovered cricket.

Not only does she play, she has become a crusader for the game.

Steph helped organise yesterday's blind cricket skills and game-based day at Mount Maunganui's Blake Park where visually impaired athletes, aged 15-50, took to the field.

Steph says many of the people are like her.

'We had heaps of new people come along. For some of them it's their first time they've played cricket, for some of them it's the first time they've played in a long time because the sport hasn't been operating at all in Tauranga for at least 15 years that I know of.

'It was hugely positive day so I've got a lot more people's contact details and they're all really keen to keep going with it.”

Steph grew up in a small town and until she was a teenager didn't appreciate that blind people were blessed with opportunities too, she says.

Blind cricket is an adapted version for totally blind or partially sighted players and relies on sound and communication.

The ball, with ball bearings inside, is bowled underarm and rattles, while metal wickets replace wooden ones to lift the sound.

And while sighted crickets sledge, blind cricketers yap.

'There's just a lot more talking,” says Steph. 'You have to describe to people where the ball is and it's really important to still give them the independence.”

Blind cricket is a family event for Steph.

She was introduced to the game by her brother James Dunne of Auckland. He too is blind from a congenital condition passed on by blind parents. But they have a sister who is full-sighted.

Steph and her brother have always been cricket nuts and fans of the Black Caps, but now they are doing it, not watching and talking about it.

To build the sport's profile and raise enthusiasm in the Bay, Steph is running a development and training camp in Paeroa next weekend.

She hopes to put together a New Zealand team to play in a tournament against Australia in January.

Steph says yesterday's event encouraged new contacts to attend the development and training camps next Saturday and Sunday.

'We're going to have quite a big pool to select our team to play Australia.”

Steph says blind cricket gives players who are living with visual impairments a feeling of accomplishment, enjoyment and normality.

'It's more than just getting out there, they're really motivated in wanting to do well because you can achieve with likeminded people around you.

'Playing blind cricket is really good because you can be on a level playing field and it is quite competitive.”