'Weaker' Optimists still up for big games

ONLY a club that aspires to be the best can call a season in which it won the Channel Islands Knockout a disappointment. But Optimists captain Andy Biggins put it bluntly: 'We didn't even deserve to win that,' he said.

He was right as well.

The CIKO final was one that Cobo lost rather than Optis won. They would not even have come close if it had not been for the brilliance of man-of-the-match Ami Banerjee and even he had to ride his luck.

But it does say something for Optimists that they won that trophy in a remarkably inconsistent season. It emphasised what a big-game team they are.

There were occasions during the summer when Optimists gave the impression that their usual hunger was just not there.

The loss to Rovers early on in the championship when they capitulated to a 44-run defeat chasing just 115 set the tone for a campaign where they lost as many games as they won to finish third.

That was hardly a record to write home about, even though they stayed in contention for the title.

Yet Optimists winning the most sought-after trophy of all in Channel Islands club cricket was not a surprise and Biggins knows why only too well.

'We play very well against good sides and fairly badly against the rest. Meaning no disrespect, matches against middle of the table teams are the sort of matches we hate. We have people turning up five minutes before the start showing little enthusiasm.

'But I would back us in one-off games any time. We play the big occasions quite well, although you have got to get there first.

'In the CIKO last season, we were quite fortunate to get to the final because we should have lost to Caesareans in the first round and we did not play particularly well against St Ouen in the semi-final either.

Optimists remain the only Guernsey side to have won the CI competition and the only team to have won it on three occasions since its inception in 1997.

Biggins has targeted retaining the CI club crown in this summer's revamped competition although consistency throughout the season must be achieved.

In the past, the CIKO draw has been decided on the previous year's finishing positions in each island's respective afternoon leagues.

This year, though, each domestic league is to be completed by the middle of July with the top four teams from both Guernsey and Jersey going into two groups of the CI competition from which the semi-final line-up will be decided.

But, perhaps unusually for the Optimists captain, he believes one trophy is likely to be the most he can expect from the season.

'It is fair to say we did not achieve what we should have done last year.

'We did not play to our potential enough and relied on individuals too much. We were probably a little guilty of going into the season expecting to do fantastically well in every single competition.

'Guernsey cricket has moved on a bit over the last few years - the way to approach a season has changed. If you are going to have a successful season, it is important to highlight what you think is your priority. If you leave it too open-ended, it can be disappointing and deflating if you don't win more silverware.

'My expectations are a lot lower than last year, probably because I know the team we are now.

'We are probably in with a shout in all competitions but if we win more than one, it will be a huge surprise. I'm not sure we have got the discipline to do that.'

It is the weekend competitions where Biggins believes something can be achieved because in the longer version of the local game, Optimists have a well-balanced team.

Mark Clapham will open, probably with Mark Jefferies, although Elliot Green could get his chance at the top of the order.

Banerjee and Biggins will occupy the three and four spots followed in no particular order by Ian Damarell, the Chambers brothers, Simon Gaudion and Divan van den Heever. Steve Queripel also needs to be accommodated.

Mike Kinder will feature in the afternoons, but they might have to find a place yet for Chris Van Vliet.

Biggins is unsure how often the former Elizabeth College strike bowler will be available.

Those gone from last year's side are Andre van Rooyen (to Cobo) and Mike Webber (to Mavericks).

'We still have a varied bowling attack and a strong batting line-up, but a lot of teams have got stronger whereas we haven't.

'The loss of Andre has weakened us, made us older in the field and lessened our squad of players,' said Biggins, who added that Webber's departure might be felt when Damarell misses games through his coaching commitments with the Guernsey under-11s.

The Evening League could prove a problem for the skipper.

Optimists came close to winning Premier One last season, but Biggins acknowledged that it was difficult for his side to maintain any sort of form when he had to juggle things around to keep everyone involved.

'We have got to try and keep everyone happy and it is a tricky thing to do,' he said.

'Take the batting order. We have got the three afternoon openers in Mark Clapham, Mark Jefferies and Elliot Green and then you have Simon Gaudion who is an Evening League opener.

'Then you could make an argument for getting our best batsman, Ami, in as early as possible or Divan, who is probably our most destructive batsman.

However he works it out, still expect Optimists to be there or thereabouts come August.