Ashley Humber - a man of inspiration
“Cricket traditionally is seen as quite a boring sport, and people go crikey don’t you get bored, and I say ‘no’”...
An ambassador for Disability Cricket, and a keen believer in just going for opportunities – he holds a vital role at Bournemouth Cricket Club, and has a unique story to tell
From playing in his back garden to weekly matches, he has many words of encouragement for anyone looking to get into the world of sport
Meet Ashley Humber - an inspiration in Bournemouth Cricket Club and beyond
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
From the beginning...
Growing up Ashley was surrounded by cricket, so its no surprise he now has an integral role in the club.
A member of the club since the age of 12, his dedication and progression to where he is now is undoubtedly inspirational.
“My grandfather was the one who got me into it, we used to play in the back garden of his house every summer… I was always very about playing it”
Ashley has been on the committee for 8 years, originally starting as a player representative, relaying how players were feeling and what ideas they wanted pushed forward to the board.
For the past 2 years he has also run the various social media channels of the club – including Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
In terms of playing cricket, he currently captain’s the Bournemouth CC 4th team who play in the Hampshire Cricket League Division 5 South West, which is a combined Hampshire/Dorset league.
But]he has also represented Hampshire in the D40 League South Division 2. The D40 league is a National Disabled Cricket League - Ashley competed against teams like Middlesex, Surrey, and Essex.
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
An ambassador for Disability Cricket
Ashley has also been an ambassador for Disability Cricket for the past 15 years “I think that is something which is growing which is fantastic”.
Last year a Disability Premier League was introduced, the final of which was shown on Sky, marking a monumental moment in disability awareness.
“In terms of disability cricket… people sometimes don’t realise they could play it"
"Sometimes they feel that they may not be good enough for Saturday league cricket and wouldn’t even realise they could play that [in the disability league] as well"
"Whether it’s from a competitive standpoint or they’re just looking to get involved and keep active”
Ashley is very open about his Cerebral Palsy and ADHD, talking about the impact they have had on his life.
Cerebral Palsy is the name for a group of lifelong conditions that affect movement and co-ordination. “It predominantly affects my left hand more, so I haven’t got much motor skills within my hand… my balance on my left leg isn’t the best, but it isn’t awful”. Although, he is determined not to let it impact his playing ability, “growing up with that to be fair for me its what ive always known so its quite normal, I cant miss what ive never had”.
In January 2021, Ashley received his diagnosis of ADHD, describing it as a ‘watershed moment’ in his life as he found it frustrating not being diagnosed for so long. “There’s always been issues with me at school in terms of concentration”.
“I always had teaching assistance so they would be able to keep me on track, but as I’ve got older and got into the working world its something I’ve struggled with a lot, being able to work independently and apply myself to things”.
ADHD, short for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a condition which affects people’s behaviour – causing symptoms such as restlessness, acting on impulse, and difficulties concentrating.
Speaking on how he ended up being diagnosed…
“I came across it by chance on YouTube and I sort of fell down a rabbit hole”. After several referrals from his GP Ashley finally got his diagnosis. “It was actually quite a relief because there were so many things I could attribute to it, and its not just me being really really bad at stuff, there’s actually a medical reason for this”.
Now, more adults are being diagnosed with ADHD, marking a progression in ideas surrounding understanding of disability, and it is now estimated 1 in 20 adults have ADHD.
In a world of greater transparency for disability, Ashley details just how important the past few years have been for the progression of ideas surrounding disability, describing how a lot of it can be put down to COVID and the rise of working from home making certain jobs more accessible and giving people more opportunities they may never have had before, due to now being able to work from home “people can potentially have a job they couldn’t get before, because of the accessibility and opportunities available”.
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
Photo credits: Rebecca Coulson
The Isle of Wight...
2 years ago Ashley was called up to the 2nd team to go to the Isle of Wight and play the final game there.
They left to get the ferry at 8am and got back around 9 o’clock in the evening - a long day, but Ashley described the indispensable friendships made on that one trip.
Photo credits: Google Maps
Photo credits: Google Maps
Going from playing with his mates as a child to making new friendships through the lens of cricket – it truly is a social sport, and Ashley has attributed many of his friendships and life skills to being apart of the club.
“You’re with your mates the whole day – you’re telling stories, taking the mick out of each other, you’re having fun.
You’re working with people who have many differences to you, and you learn to be understanding of those.
Everyone’s different at the end of the day, everyone has something they are insecure about – its such a shame if you don’t [take part] because sport is such a good way of bringing people together”
See some places he's played at...
A career full of inspirations...
“Certainly within the sport I would say Shane Warne was a really big inspiration for me – I bowl and spin like he did”
Shane Warne is quite possibly the most recognisable name in cricket, playing for both Australian and English domestic clubs, including Hampshire. For Hampshire he scored his only two first class centuries and took 276 wickets at an astounding average of 25.58. But, his inspirational attitude stretched to outside the world of cricket too.
“He converted so many people who had never seen cricket before, into people who really quite enjoyed it”
Ashley also credits his family as a huge source of inspiration - including his grandfather, who he has fond memories of playing cricket with as a child
Friends with Ashley since 13 years old, James Palmer had a lot of praise for his teammate:
“He’s like the life and soul, he’s very good at speaking to people
he’s very good at getting and engaging people, he’s the fourth team captain - he managed to get them promoted
he created this incredible experience in the team, everyone enjoyed what they were doing and ultimately that’s what we are here to do. His classic thing is he brings everyone together.”
Club manager Mark Smith added:
“He came through as a colt here, he went through all the colts age groups into adults. He's good, he's upbeat and everyone enjoys playing in his side.”
Bournemouth Cricket Club 4th XI
UPCOMING FIXTURES
Photo credits: Bournemouth Cricket Club
Photo credits: Bournemouth Cricket Club
“Its not necessarily a person I try to be like, its more a case of trying to be better everyday
Sometimes you have off days and things like that where you’re not going to be at your top level, you’re not going to want to do things
The brilliant thing is you can wake up the next day and you can go again”
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