The 2010 season is finally upon us here in Guernsey and so far we have been treated royally by the weather. As wind and rained bashed us and one another in February and March the summer sun slipped in unnoticed edging both out spectacularly. Nick Clegg did something similar to Cameron and Brown last week, however like those two the threat of wind and rain will never truly disappear and will no doubt defeat us at some point. Politics aside we have been blessed with perfect cricket conditions since 5th April, meaning that all of our squads have been outside practising on grass since the first week of April.
Our senior players have worked hard this winter in a variety of places. Will Peatfield and Jamie Nussbaumer have spent three months in South Africa including a month with Sussex CCC in Port Elizabeth. James Warr attended the ICC–Europe Mens Academy in Pune, India, which I was lucky enough to join him on as a coach and a number of the guys have been at university in England. For those of us who have spent most of our time in Guernsey it's been a case of Sunday mornings at the indoor centre, bowling machines, net based challenges and the usual unique brand of Guernsey humour which nobody is safe from.
After an enjoyable 2009 which saw us promoted to and retain our place in World Cricket League 6, we are now working hard to learn the lessons of 2009 and prepare for this summer's European Champs which we will be hosting. We do have half an eye on WCL6 in the back half of 2011, however we are still yet to win an ICC tournament and we want to put that right asap. On the subject of the European Championships it will once again be a delight to host the Gibraltans. This will be their third championships in as many years in Guernsey and I'm sure they are looking forward to going somewhere else at some point, but it will be good to see them all again and resume our healthy rivalry with them.
On the domestic front the C.I. league once again promises to be an exciting affair. Jersey welcome back Sporting Club to senior club cricket which will no doubt add to the league, whilst a number of teams look to be stronger than in previous years. Wanderers have signed James Gale who has moved to the Island from the UK, James has experience of minor counties cricket in England and will no doubt contribute greatly to the local cricket scene in 2010. Argylls have signed a number of young players and will be under the stewardship of former Scotland batsman Dominic Rigby. Cobo will be as strong as ever and should challenge for the title. OR's are the Jekyll and Hyde of Guernsey cricket. Their success will depend on their ability to field their strongest side as regularly as possible, if they can they are potential title contenders.
I will once again be playing for the Barclays Wealth Emerging Players, once PwC Academy. 2009 was the first year of the team and it proved a success on a number of fronts, whilst of course there were a number of things we hope to do better this year. We have a number of young players who will be playing their first year of senior club cricket with a number of players that played last year, plus the senior old hands of myself Mark Renouf (a slightly older and greyer hand than I!). Personally it is a great challenge being part of a team with the young guys and it was a real thrill watching them begin to find their feet.
We will also see an adaptation to the evening league programme which is locally hugely supported and well followed. The C.I. League clubs (except the Emerging Players) will compete in a quadrangular T20 competition on grass through the middle of the summer.
All of our domestic cricket has now moved to coloured clothing and white balls to mirror our international competitions. The board have worked really hard to make this possible and I'm sure it will add to the overall impact the league can have on our domestic and international cricket. Hannah Mechem is now under–way with the Appleby schools programme, visiting every school on the island and building towards the Kwik Cricket festivals in June.
So cricket is well and truly under–way. The Barclays Wealth Emerging Players will be lucky enough to be part of the 2010 curtain raiser as we taken on PKF Wanderers on Sunday 25th April at KGV. I have put together a list of things for overseas readers to keep an eye out for during the Guernsey summer which may or may not be of interest. Some of the fixtures are of course subject to a certain volcano allowing transport to and from the Island!
Having been asked to write a blog and bounced various ideas around as to what to write about each week after the usual results, champagne moments and unusual occurrences, I have settled on a format. Over the next few months I'll try and explore all the areas of interest in Guernsey cricket. I'll try and give you a flavour of what goes on at the indoor cricket centre (ICG), in the schools with Hannah Mechem, at the various grounds, in the GCB office, with the senior squad, the lower reaches of our domestic competition and any other areas of interest. I can do requests!
So this week we are going to start with the KGV Groundsman's Hut, 'Jabba from the Hutt' please excuse my attempt at tabloid headline writing.
For those of you who have visited Guernsey for cricket you will have no doubt played at the King George V Playing Fields, whether it was the old dusty wickets or the old dusty teas that you remembered it for it is still one of my favourite places to play cricket. In 2002 Alan Hamilton moved to the island to take up the post of head grounds man. He did so having had a triple heart bypass. Thankfully I can say he has lasted longer than his wickets! He's well and the wickets are getting really good … the parents do the teas now so I'm pleased to report they've improved too!
On arrival at the ground you will normally see a couple of cars or a pick–up truck parked over the far side, driving on to the ground you see two ivy covered wooden sheds with a door slightly ajar. The first thing to greet you will Stuart Le Prevost's spaniel ìBrinaî not to be confused with the local lager ìBredaî. The closer you get to the shed the more it opens up in to something that is fast becoming more homely than most people homes. Kitchen facilities, wireless internet, photos on the wall and a bbq outside. Latest installations at the KGV huts include a toilet with ìOfficeî on the door, a front door with a window and a new kitchen unit.
On match days more spectators are now found down by the grounds staff's shed than in the pavilion. Cold beers are always in the fridge and when the GCB president, Mr David Nussbaumer is in attendance a joint of beef and various other bbq items can be found on the bbq. Aromas of which gently waft across the field to players as if to say ìwouldn't you rather be with us over here?î.
The shed is south facing so is a real sun trap too. The wonderful atmosphere at the KGV hut is down to Mr Hamilton and the Island captain and assistant grounds man Stu Le Prevost. Alan is a proud Englishman passionate about his square, his wickets and a keen eye for details. Originally from Northampton Alan ran a building firm which employed many of Northamptonshire's county pros in the winter during the 80's and 90's. His interest in groundsmanship was fostered at his local cricket club Boughton where he looked after the square, his wife did the teas and his sons grew up. Now our grounds man at the KGV we are lucky to have someone so dedicated and understanding of cricket and its nuances.
KGV wickets have always been renowned as being slow, low turners which break the back and hearts of most fast bowlers, Alan initiated a huge improvement on his arrival but had become frustrated as getting the real pace and bounce in to them he craved appeared to be eluding him. However he appears to have succeeded somewhat on his first effort of 2010. We had an excellent practice wicket in early April which went through quite well, however the wicket we had on Sunday was really good.
It was by no means the Oval, but Alan puts the success down to a change in preparation. Rather than rolling and cutting the grass down early, he and Stu have left more grass on but started rolling earlier, then cutting down much later. The theory being to use the grass to draw the moisture out of the ground. The first results were impressive, however, Alan will be the first to concede ìIt's a long summerî!
I always enjoy being down at the KGV and with the ground staff although I ended up getting roped in to do some work with them over the last week. Thus we pulled in some of the youngsters to give us a hand too. All of our domestic cricket is now white balls and coloured clothing, thus a few litres of black paint needed spreading over the screens at Port Soif.
<i>Pictured above are, left to right, Will Peatfield, Tim Ravenscroft, Lee Savident, Stuart Le Prevost and Jon Clark getting to work on the sight screens at Port Soif.</i>
Moving on to the cricket, the Barclays Wealth Emerging Players won a fascinating game with PKF Wanderers at the weekend. he scores reflected the lack of application in the batting and poor thinking rather than the quality of the surface. Having lost the toss we (Emerging Players) got put in to bat and were bowled out for 185 in 42 overs. I managed to make myself look slighty stupid having been quoted in the press as only wanting to play a bit part role and leave it to the young players. The lads surrendered their wickets too easily and I ended up scoring 97 and getting us out of trouble. Personally quite nice to get away to a decent start but first and foremost I'm a coach and it was disappointing we didn't bat as well as we can as a team.
On the flip side the bowling and fielding was superb. On a wicket that didn't spin in the slightest (which is most wickets for me), all of the spinners bowled really well and were backed up by some committed fielding. One thing we have become really good at in WCL and European events is squeezing in the middle overs. It was therefore excellent to see 14 year old James Wilkes–Green, Tom Kirk (17) and Glenn Le Tissier (16) bowl so well and bowl Wanderers out for 181 with 7 balls remaining. Andrew Hutchinson was the pick of the seamers with 3 crucial wickets for 37 runs. This weekend we play Cobo, which pits me against most of my team mates and is possibly our toughest game of the year. I'm hoping that a stronger bowling attack will help focus the boys minds a little more as we were a little too casual on Sunday.
Sussex 2nd XI are over for two one–day games against us next week (Tuesday and Wednesday) which will be interesting. A few first teamers are coming over so pitting our skills against theirs will be a good challenge.
Hopefully the above gives you something of interest to read, if anyone has any questions regarding anything or suggestions of something to write about please let me know and I'll do my best to accommodate!
In a week where Guernsey and Jersey battled, in every sense of the word, on the football and rugby pitches I thought it apt that I dedicate a few words to our friends across the water. Jersey won the Siam cup (Rugby) 36–0 and Guernsey won the Murratti (football) 1–0. Both sports were blighted by fights on and off the pitch with one of Guernsey's rugby players in hot water with the Police. All in all not good and it sends a poor message to the hundreds of young sports people that compete across a number of sports about what Guernsey vs Jersey is actually about.
So what is it about? Funnily enough my first experience of Guernsey vs Jersey was a bit of a shock, 0 and 0–17, abused all the way out to the wicket, abused at the wicket and abused all the way back. It was clear to me after that point with Guernsey having not beaten Jersey in 10 years that we had some work to do and that it clearly meant a lot.
Since then we've had some wonderful days cricket with Guernsey winning more than we've lost since 2002, good crowds, excellent weather and equally good celebrations. Generally games get between 500 and 1000 people watching with bbq's, fancy dress and the odd streaker. Highlights in my 9 years of playing in them are as follows;
- Hijacking of the PA system post match by a well oiled Jersey fan who performed a version of Wonderwall to the KGV
- The Elvis's in 2005 at KGV
- Guernsey's first win in 2002 for 10 years, the lowering of the Jersey flag to half mast and the night that followed
- The Guernsey hill at Grainville whenever Jersey host
- The insipid liquid that fills the trophy after a Guernsey win at the Dog House
- Breakfast the following morning at the Cobo Bay Hotel
- Plenty of other incidents not for a family website!
Undoubtedly Guernsey vs Jersey is about bragging rights, its a cup final atmosphere that few people experience on a regular basis, and its a day out for the loyal supporters of each island. There is a huge amount of pride and history attached to the fixture across all of the sports in the Channel Islands from cricket, football and rugby to darts, chess and volleyball.
I was in Jersey on Friday assessing a UKCC2 on behalf of JCB and ICC–Europe. A good evenings work was followed by some dinner with Peter Gough and a few beverages with Craig Hogan. It was a shame my old room–mate Ward Jenner couldn't join us for the post course debrief. Wardy J appears to have become a very good coach and was quite pleased with himself generally at getting through the assessment, just a shame he couldn't join us for dinner.
The weather has been dry but quite a lot cooler, not helped by a bitter northerly win. It was perhaps inevitable that we had our first games at Port Soif this week, and lord was it cold. Our performances were equally unpleasant as we got well and truly humbled by a Sussex 2nd XI. On a positive note the wicket at Port Soif was good, all we need now is 100 meter long and 20 meter high portable windbreak.
My personal highlight of last week was the Emerging Players last ball victory against Cobo at the KGV last weekend. I was out with us still requiring another 160 to win and the boys aided by Mark Renouf got us over the line against the strongest club in Guernsey. Andrew Hutchinson again bowled very well and backed it up with 31 of 20 balls at the death to get us the win. Other good performances came from Glenn Le Tissier, Zac Damarell, Josh Kirk and Dane Mullen.
We now don't have another game until 26th June against Odey OR's as the boys attentions to turn to school cricket and exams.
So England are Twenty20 World Champions, we have finally invented a game we can actually win, although I did read a very funny piece sent to me by one of our coaches Phil Reeves, mocking Twenty20 and England's win. For the average person in Guernsey, evening cricket or Twenty20 has been about for years. In fact as far as column inches go traditionally it has had the most and it has a huge following. Something like 800 people play across all the various leagues.
Twenty20 cricket has had a huge impact on cricket, the game as it is played now, but also on how it is likely to be played in the future. Young cricketers think nothing of jumping inside the line of the ball and flipping it over their shoulder in a net, or sitting deep in their crease and trying to smack it is as far and as hard as they can. Thinking back to my county age group days at Hampshire and being asked ìFrithy what are you working on?î my typical response was something about falling over and trying to hit straighter … funnily enough still working at that now. How different it is now when you speak to young players about what they are working on ìI want to be able to hit my reverse sweep harder and in front of squareî. This week I had an U9 come and ask me about the reverse sweep and if it was a good option on a slow wicket against seamers. ìthe boundary square of the wicket on the off–side in the garden is shorter than straight, and Daddy doesn't cut the grass properly so I think its best I look to use the reverse sweep. What do you think?î
When I was 18 the McClaurin report came out with all its recommendations, and it all made perfect sense, especially the emphasis on club cricket, representative board cricket and the premier leagues shifting towards 2–day cricket. Unfortunately only Kent managed to get to a 2–day format. I heard so many weak excuses about why 2–day cricket wouldn't work, the weather being the main one. The bottom line for me was that I loved 2–day cricket, the opportunity to bat for a day or bowl 30 overs unchanged from one end whilst between overs resuming conversation with the wicket keeper. I couldn't think of a better day out as a batsman, spin bowler and 1st slip fielder! The seamers of course had a slightly different view of course. Although my fast bowling car travelling companion Rich Taylor loved it because he saw it as licence to start a bouncer war with every team we played. ìFrithy, I bet I don't concede a run through mid off!î ìNo but I bet you concede a 100 between backward square leg and point!î
The U19 county championship moved to a 2–day competition and having spent 4 seasons in Australia playing district / grade cricket I was all over it. Many of my central views about cricket, how it should be played, run and what is expected from people come from my experiences in Australian club cricket. Our young players are excited about smashing it out the ground, flipping it over their shoulders and bowling different types of slower balls. In a funny type of way its similar to how I was once excited about batting for a day. That said the end product is somewhat different!
I love my job and working with the players we have over here, but I do wonder about what our 9 year olds will expect from cricket when they are 32. Could it be a pre–requisite for the Guernsey Disco Club to supply 4 well toned scantily clad dancers at the KGV … because otherwise ìit just wouldn't be Twenty20î. Will our finals day need to be cancelled because unfortunately Shaggy has been double booked. Will World Cricket League operating procedures ever have a line dedicated to the cut of the dancers hot pants and sponsorship logos on their backsides? More questions than answers.
It will be interesting to see if England's Twenty20 win will have the same impact on the game the 2005 Ashes had. Something tells me that whilst a nice quick fix being T20 Champions will never capture peoples' imagination or arm loyal England fans with enough ammo to goad their Australian mates sufficiently as an Ashes win.
The KGV is now nicknamed the KG–M5 as comparisons continue to be drawn between the pitches and the motorway from Exeter to Birmingham. Argylls scored 297 all out in 50 overs with Dom Rigby scoring a masterful 150. Poor Dom must be wondering what he has to do to win a game as Wanderers chased down the score 2 wickets down in 41 overs. The game at Port Soif couldn't have been more different as OR's were shot out for 65 and lost by 8 wickets to Cobo.
This weekend will see Cobo and Wanderers go head to head in the final round of local league fixtures. Touch wood, the entire May programme appears to have passed without a game cancelled! When was the last time that ever happened?
Flimsy excuses aside, it is now very much tournament season. We start tomorrow in European Division 2 against Gibraltar at the KGV but almost typically after six weeks with no rain, today we've had plenty. All of the grounds look in unbelievably good condition. The KGV wickets have pace and bounce and combined with a lightening outfield there should be some high scores there this week.
Our squad has been hit by the late withdrawal of Will Petefield with a tear in his patella tendon of his right knee. A real shame for Will but it provides an opportunity for another youngster David Hooper. The 19 year old got a call up under similar circumstances in 2009 for WCL7 but didn't make a final starting 11. With a number of strong performances behind him already this summer David should be hopeful of getting a look in this week.
As to our chances of winning some people have us as favourites and that is not surprising based on the world rankings. However, sport is not something that cares for what should happen or form. We have a huge amount of respect for the teams here and recognise a number of very dangerous individuals within a number of sides. With 3 of the 6 teams competing for the final places in WCL8 in Kuwait we expect teams to be well up for all games and come at us hard. I'm sure the tournament will be keenly fought and I am envisaging a fascinating last day of fixtures on Monday 19th. That said of course we are just concentrating on tomorrow!
Our neighbours across the water are hosting Division 1. Of course with a rivalry as intense as Guernsey v Jersey we are not at all jealous of their opportunity to play in and host Europe's top division. The U19's are off to Belfast for the WCQ on 21st July. The squad going sees almost all schools well represented and is a feather in the cap of the GCB's development programme. To see the traditional non playing cricket schools extremely well represented is a huge plus for us all.
In domestic cricket the Emerging Players are going well, played 4, won 3, lost 1. Our only defeat was at the hands of Odey OR's who are currently top. The C.I. League is now unbelievably open with every team now having lost and anyone of 6 teams still in with a realistic shot of winning.
A final word goes to my wife. We are currently expecting our first child in the next few days or weeks and she is heavily pregnant. She has been remarkably well and done a huge amount of work in getting us prepared for our first child whilst her husband spends his time running round with cricket. It would be wonderful if junior Frith could hold on for a few days until after the tournament however, if not it will be a wonderful week for another reason.