Ian (Tiny) Morris - The Sharks Are Circling

In the fourth episode of Noisy Balls, I had the great honour of speaking with a legend of the Sussex Sharks VI cricket team Ian (Tiny) Morris.

Ian has led a rather unusual and varied life, starting off with him working in the bio chemistry field and leading right through to him now being employed for The Guide Dogs For The Blind Association (UK).

He even manages to find time to be on his very own podcast Pompy Politics Podcast, so go and check that out for some quirky political narrative.

Ian only came to be involved in VI cricket in 2002, as he knew nothing of blind sport before then. Ian's eye condition is Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is a group of rare, genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and loss of cells in the retina — which is the light sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye. Common symptoms include difficulty seeing at night and a loss of side (peripheral) vision.

RP is considered a rare disorder. Although current statistics are not available, it is generally estimated that the disorder affects roughly 1 in 4,000 people, both in the United States and worldwide.

RP is an inherited disorder that results from harmful changes in any one of more than 50 genes. These genes carry the instructions for making proteins that are needed in cells within the retina, called photoreceptors. Some of the changes, or mutations, within genes are so severe that the gene cannot make the required protein, limiting the cell's function. Other mutations produce a protein that is toxic to the cell. Still other mutations lead to an abnormal protein that doesn't function properly. In all three cases, the result is damage to the photoreceptors.

Photoreceptors are cells in the retina that begin the process of seeing. They absorb and convert light into electrical signals. These signals are sent to other cells in the retina and ultimately through the optic nerve to the brain where they are processed into the images we see. There are two general types of photoreceptors, called rods and cones. Rods are in the outer regions of the retina, and allow us to see in dim and dark light. Cones reside mostly in the central portion of the retina, and allow us to perceive fine visual detail and color.

I would like to thank Ian for popping on to episode four of Noisy Balls and for telling us his thoroughly interesting story about his involvement in VI cricket, as well as for enlightening all of our listeners with his account on how he managed to be so positive with the news of his blindness at nineteen and to still go about achieving what he has since that period of his life.

Noisy Balls is proudly sponsored by the Victorian Blind Cricket Associationand we appreciate the VBCA's support as we bring in a new dawn in blind cricket podcasting.

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