CRICKETERS got the new season under way at the weekend by taking part in a charity match in aid of a former player paralysed in a car accident.

Jamie Hood, of Redcar, was paralysed from the neck down in a car crash in South Africa four years ago.

Since then the former all-rounder with Yorkshire County Cricket Club's second team has been supported by his wife, Jan, to whom he proposed while on a life-support machine. The couple married in Redcar in 2000.

On Sunday, a North Yorkshire and South Durham league side took on a local team at Redcar Cricket Ground in Kirkleatham Street to raise cash for his recovery.

A recent breakthrough in the treatment of spinal conditions at a French clinic means it could soon be possible to use lasers on Jamie's spine to bridge gaps in nerves that, at present, stop his spine receiving messages from his brain.

His mother, Lynne, said: "Jamie has organised all the teams for today - it has kept his mind occupied.

"We plan to put all the money raised from the game into Jamie's trust fund. Any potential operation would probably not be available on the National Health so we want to have money available for any eventuality."

The 40-over game was played out largely in sunshine and the family were hopeful of raising a substantial amount of cash.