Cumbria's first ever blind cricket match could lead to the establishment of a county team.

Cockermouth School pupils Aaron Hewitt, 12, of Little Broughton, who is blind and Joe Girling, 15, of Salterbeck, Workington, who is visually impaired, linked up with a team of visually impaired cricketers from Yorkshire.

The side took on a team of experienced professional Cumbrian cricketers in a demonstration game at the Keswick Cricket Festival in Fitz Park on Tuesday. Their opposition wore sight-restricting goggles to try and replicate the vision of a visually impaired or blind person.

Geoff Smith, secretary of Blind Cricket England and Wales, watched the game unfold and said he hoped to establish the sport in the county.

He said: "Hopefully this begins a fairly long-term project to bring the game here. We'd love to set up a Cumbria team if at all possible.

"People grow up and they want to get involved in a kind of appropriate sport.

"We've adapted the wonderful game of cricket as little as possible but we do adapt it to the needs of the people playing it.

"Sporting opportunities don't appeal to everyone but there are many benefits including team spirit, fitness and self-confidence.

"You can progress as far as international level; myself and development director John Garbett are both international cricketers and I've been to more than 20 countries because of cricket."

Organiser and umpire Doug Beebe, of Cockermouth, said: "The county up to this point hadn't actually staged a blind cricket match so it's a first.

"We want to make visually impaired people aware that this game exists, that it's thriving and that nationwide and worldwide they can take part."