When Steffan Nero's vision started to decline as a teenager, he feared his cricketing career was over.

Key points: Blind cricket is rising in popularity across the country

Blind cricket is rising in popularity across the country For the first time WA will field its own side in this weekend's national championships

For the first time WA will field its own side in this weekend's national championships The ball in blind cricket is filled with ball bearings to provide players with audible cues

"I used to play with my dad, and he was bowling bouncers, and I just had no idea," he recalls.

"I was just ducking out of the way. It was just starting to become a bit too dangerous. That's why I decided to stop."

Nero has congenital nystagmus, a condition that affects his sight and depth perception.

"When I was young, I was actually very blind. I couldn't see a metre in front of me, but I hit my head and I actually got better sight," he says.

But as he got older, his vision started to decline again, to the point he had to give the game away.

"I thought, well that's just the end now isn't it. I'll just have to shelve that and go and do something else," Nero says.

"It was a hard time for me personally. As a young kid, an active kid, you always want to do everything and try everything.

"Realising I couldn't play something I loved was a hard hit."

WA team member Ryan Honschooten prepares to catch the ball. ( ABC News: Tom Wildie )

'I was convinced I wouldn't like it'

As Nero was looking around at other sports he could play, he found his way to blind cricket after a conversation with Western Australia captain Brad Brider.

At first, the 14-year-old was ambivalent about playing a game modified for vision-impaired competitors.

"I was actually looking forward to it, but I was [also] convinced I wouldn't like it," he says.

"I thought it was going to be a dumbed-down version of cricket, a basic level of cricket."

But after attending a try-out, Nero appreciated the similarities between the game he used to play and the game he was experiencing for the first time.

"It's similar, but it's not similar. It's well adapted to make sure it feels like cricket," he says.

How the game works

Blind cricket is based on the traditional laws of cricket.

Each side fields 11 players, four of whom must be totally blind, with three partially blind players and up to four who are partially sighted.

The blind cricket ball is plastic and filled with ball bearings. ( ABC News )

The ball is the major adaptation. It is plastic, larger than a traditional cricket ball and filled with ball bearings for audible cues.

The stumps are also larger and painted in florescent colours, allowing partially sighted players to orientate themselves, while blind players touch them while batting and bowling for orientation.

In the field, players classified as totally blind must also wear blackout glasses, and verbal signals play an important role in fielding, with teammates directing each other to the ball.

The rules vary depending on who is batting or fielding, with totally blind players unable to be given out stumped and permitted to take catches on the bounce.

Bowlers must also call "play" when releasing the ball, which must be bowled underarm.

Perth Scorchers bowler Heather Graham has a go at fielding while wearing blind cricket blackout glasses. ( ABC News: Tom Wildie )

More than just a sport

After playing blind cricket for nearly five years, including representing Australia at two world cups, Nero says the benefits of being part of the blind cricket community went far beyond just taking part in the sport.

"It's not just about playing the sport, it's about engaging socially with other blind and vision-impaired people," he says.

"If people feel there's nothing out there, they won't go out and experience it for themselves, and they might find they're not confident at all.

"It's very underrated how powerful sport can be. It's a great way to get involved in vision-impaired and blind communities."

Blind cricket is gaining in popularity, as awareness of the game begins to grow.

"We struggled to find enough players on a Sunday to play a game. Now, there's times we have too many players, and we have to field with 12 or 13 players," Nero says.

"It's a fantastic thing to balance, trying to sort out that problem."

Totally blind players need to wear blackout glasses. ( ABC News: Tom Wildie )

A first for Western Australia

This weekend, Western Australia will field its own side at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships (NCIC) for the first time.

When Brider started playing more than five years ago, WA did not have a stand-alone team and would have to field a combined side with South Australia.

For Brider, who was the youngest person to ever receive a baggy green and is the current West Australian captain, this year's NCIC tournament holds extra significance.

"From when I started playing, there are only two others still playing today," he says.

"We had to really build a whole new team, so it's been a long, long journey to get here.

"I've probably never been more excited for a tournament than this one."

Brider has seen the game explode in popularity, from one game a month with no involvement from the Western Australian Cricket Association, to weekly training sessions on the WACA ground.

He hopes the game will continue to grow.

"With all those new facilities and access, and more people getting involved … more people will want to get involved," he says.

"It's just a spiral, and hopefully it just keeps going forward and forward."