Cricket:Table cricket championship gives kids with disabilities in Canberra the chance to shine

 Table cricket has swung into gear in Canberra for the first time in two years, with a competition held at Manuka Oval.

The oval played host to four teams from both St Francis Xavier College and Queanbeyan Public School.

Teams are made up of students with either a physical or intellectual disability, and today they had the chance to experience what table cricket was all about.

The game, comprising of an automatic bowler and areas on the table for the batsman to hit is an adapted form of the game that is played all over Australia through the summer months.

Cricket ACT regional development manager Matthew Paton said it was fantastic to have the competition restart after a two-year period.

"We have four teams running today with a four team round-robin comp with a final this afternoon," he said.

"So, it's going to be really exciting for those two teams that make it through to the grand final."

The competition is participation-only, but Mr Paton said he hoped the game would advance to competition level in the coming year.

Kaihdyn Andrae, a student at St Francis, said he was happy to play table cricket.

"I've watched cricket before, its similar to it really easy but its close to the same rules," he said.

Hopes table cricket will continue to grow

PHOTO: Lily Haskins from Queanbeyan Primary School launches a drive toward the boundary in table cricket at Manuka Oval.(ABC News: Greg Nelson)

There are some small differences to the rules of cricket — in table cricket only one batsman bats at a time, and there is no wicket-keeper involved.

It was not just students enjoying the day — Michaela Vergano, a teacher from St Francis Xavier, was extremely excited as well.

"There is some excitement and when we first arrived there was definitely some anticipation," she said.

However as the students got on with the games, the students warmed both to the game and each other.

"They're forming friendships around the table ... they've been put into teams so they can interact." Ms Vergano said.

"The high school students are able to work with the primary school students and be a bit of a mentor at that time so there's is lots of noise, and we have people really involved in the sport at the moment."

Both Mr Paton and Ms Vergano said they had hopes the sport would continue to grow.

"Within the next two to three years we hope to have two streams of the competition ... hopefully we get to the stage that it is a part of the school calendar," Mr Paton said.

PHOTO: Tim Garrity from St Francis Xavier in Canberra raises his bat after hitting a six in table cricket. (ABC News: Greg Nelson)