Exmouth cricketer George Greenway has achieved something that was beyond even the great Joe Root, leading England to victory over Australia in the Ashes.

As captain of the England Deaf team, Greenway proudly skippered the side to a first ever Ashes victory in Australia.

All-rounder James Schofield was the main man in a victory that saw England take an unassailable 5-2 lead in the series with one game still to play.

“It was a pretty special day – it’s great to be involved after the stress of watching a lot of it on TV,” said Schofield, whose first Ashes tour was in 2011.

“I’m just pleased I’ve been able to contribute in the last couple of games. It’s reward for a lot of hard work and dedication from everybody on and off the pitch – and people have taken responsibility on the day to see the job home. They’re a competitive side and have given us some tricky moments – it’s been a really good series and a great advert for deaf cricket.”

Firstly, Schofield was superb with the ball, taking 4-37 to help dismiss the home side for just 129 in Brisbane. His dominant spell included two wickets in his first three balls.

Schofield then turned on the style with the bat, scoring 63 in an unbeaten century stand with Umesh Valjee (45). England had lost a couple of early wickets before this duo calmly steered the side to victory.

“I’m so proud of all the players and so thankful to all the support staff who’ve really looked after us, especially through Covid” said a jubilant Greenway. “It’s a huge team effort and a massive achievement for us. A few of us are quite emotional.

“There’s been a couple of mornings where I haven’t been able to eat because of nerves, but James and Umesh settled us down so well today. I’m so thrilled with the way we fought back from that disappointment losing the T20 super-over to come back and dominate.”

Congratulations to George and the team, you did us proud.