Islands apply for ICC membership

GUERNSEY and Jersey have taken the monumental decision to apply for International Cricket Council membership. Both islands will make their application to become affiliate members later this year and those will be heard by the ICC at its June 2005 annual meeting.

The Guernsey section of the Channel Islands Cricket Board reached its decision in January but had agreed not to announce it formally until Jersey had reached its decision.

That was made unanimously at the Caesareans' meeting on Tuesday evening.

'The decisions made by both islands have been very carefully considered after many months of comprehensive research and discussions, not least with the ECB and the Cricket Foundation, who have generously agreed to continue to provide ongoing funds to both islands for a minimum of two years,' said Channel Islands Cricket Board chairman Keith Dennis.

'At the end of that period in 2007, it is hoped that both islands will have progressed from affiliate to associate membership, as a result of which they will become eligible for substantial distributions from the ICC's global funding pools.'

He added that the CICB would continue to exist as the recipient of the ongoing ECB and Cricket Foundation funding during the transitional stage.

However, it is expected that Guernsey and Jersey would each create their own new bodies shortly to assume the current roles of the CICB in each island and to be the bodies which formally apply to the ICC.

CICB Guernsey board member Dave Piesing, who has been heavily involved with all negotiations and discussions, said that the lengthy application process is already under way.

'Both islands need to provide comprehensive information to the ICC on their respective facilities and resources and the ICC have to complete satisfactory site visits before recommending our applications to the existing members.

'We are confident that both islands already comfortably meet the admission criteria for both affiliate and associate membership status, but the procedures do need to be fully completed and satisfied,' said Piesing.

Joining the ICC will result in Guernsey and Jersey being eligible to participate in various European and global tournaments at senior and junior levels, as well as women's events. If the applications are accepted, that could be as early as July or August next year.

'These tournaments will include the ICC World Cup qualifying tournament in 2009, from which six associate or affiliate members will qualify for the 2011 World Cup,' said Piesing.

'The islands would be too late to participate in next summer's qualifying tournament in Ireland.

'There is also the carrot of the Under-19 World Cup for the islands' youngsters to aim at. This is held every two years and the recent event in Bangladesh received extensive coverage on satellite television.

'With the likes of Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Canada having qualified for that tournament from the global pool of associate members, it is a realistic target for Guernsey or Jersey to qualify within the next 10 years if the fantastic youth development programmes continue on their present path.

'There is also the very realistic possibility of Guernsey and Jersey hosting and/or co-hosting European regional tournaments, which will really help to put the islands on the global cricketing map,' Piesing said.