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HSBC Inter-Island Challenge
David Piesing
The annual full inter-insular match between Jersey and Guernsey take place at Grainville (Jersey) on 2nd September. This is the first year of a new 4-year £20,000 sponsorship deal of the fixture by HSBC and is being played some 3 weeks later than usual due to both sides being involved with the European Second Division Championships in August.
Despite the new attraction of international cricket within Europe, the inter-insular remains “the big one” for many islanders. To non-locals it is worth explaining that inter-island cricket is effectively the Channel Islands’ nearest equivalent of “district cricket”. All of our age groups from Under-11s through to Under-19s play each other annually at inter-island level, and the local colleges in each island also play each other annually in each age group. Beating “the other island” is a huge thing in every age group and in every sport. Jersey’s population is around 92,000 and Guernsey’s is around 63,000, but in sport this population size differential seems to make very little difference.
The match itself is 50-overs per side, 10 overs per bowler, with standard one-day fielding restrictions. Teams still play in traditional whites for this fixture. Each island provides one umpire, and for the first time this year a third umpire has been appointed to assist the two match umpires on the day. Even Messrs. Duckworth-Lewis might make an appearance, provided that 20 overs are completed in the second innings.
Eligibility to play in the fixture is not restricted to only those players who are eligible to play for their islands in ICC cricket. As a result, both islands are free to select players who are playing in local cricket in the current season before they satisfy ICC eligibility requirements. As both islands tend to have a healthy flow of useful cricketers visiting their shores for employment purposes for 2 or 3 years at a time, whether from the UK, India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and elsewhere, the fixture can generally be considered to be truly representative of the current standard of domestic club cricket in each island. Some of these newcomers players end up staying in the islands for long enough to become eligible for ICC cricket in due course (minimum 4 years), and others settle permanently after marrying local girls.
Over the past 15 years the fixture has witnessed two long winning runs, one by each island. From 1992 until 2001 Jersey won the fixture for 10 successive years, but in 2002 Guernsey finally found the winning formula and then won for the next three years as well.
As far as the 2006 fixture is concerned, its looking too close to call. Since joining the ICC in 2005, the selectors and managers of both sides have developed a strong squad culture and the top players in both islands have worked very hard at their games in terms of both fitness and techniques. Jersey will be far more satisfied than Guernsey with the outcome of their European Championship campaign, and of the four semi-finalists in this year’s CI Club Championship, three of the four clubs are from Jersey. Last year’s match saw Guernsey win by a record margin after posting a big score of 286, but this year Guernsey are without two young South Africans who made a significant impact on that game.
So Guernsey go into the game as the side which has become used to winning this fixture over the past 4 years, while Jersey might just have the slight edge on current form. None of this counts for very much at all when it comes to the day itself. Playing in front of a big crowd affects different players in different ways and the day is a big test of temperament at this level. Crowds for the fixture tend to vary between around 600 and 1,000, although an estimated 1,300 watched the game in Guernsey in 2003 on what was the hottest day of the year.
The game promises to be a real cracker and only one thing is certain. Whichever side wins on the day will have beaten a very strong and well-prepared side from the other island. Obviously I fancy Guernsey to make it 5 wins on the trot, but I really wouldn’t like to stake much money on it as Jersey are clearly now a far better side than the one which was comprehensively outplayed in last year’s game.
© Guernsey Cricket Board
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