Eligibility a concern for new technical director

ON HIS first trip to the island since accepting the role as the Guernsey Cricket Board's technical director, Jack Birkenshaw is already getting into the swing of things. Even before his initial meeting with the island players last night, the former England player and county championship-winning coach was referring to the squad using the first-person plural.

And the 64-year-old's appetite for the game is as strong as ever. It is seldom you can conduct an interview hardly having to ask a question, but Birkenshaw just loves to discuss cricket and it made the job very easy.

'What is happening is fantastic,' was his very first remark as we met at the cricket development office where Jason Shambrook is based, referring to the direction the sport is heading locally.

'The trips they get for the kids are tremendous.

'With Jason working like he is doing, we should get some good young cricketers.

'The set-up is getting better all the time and there is so much enthusiasm for cricket here,' Birkenshaw added.

That work is essential for where the GCB aspire to be in just a few years time - competing as an associate member of the ICC.

Birkenshaw knows the importance of long-term planning and the development of young cricketers and an integral part of his role on the island will be to oversee how they are brought on. The key behind his thinking on that is simplicity.

'One thing I would like to see is all the coaches singing from the same hymn sheet,' he said.

'For me, that is mainly about players playing with enjoyment and their natural ability. I do not like robotic cricketers, I like them to think for themselves.

'If you make mistakes in doing that, hopefully you will learn from them, but if you are being constantly told what to do then you lose the power to express yourself.'

However, this visit focuses mainly on the current Guernsey senior squad and what they are about to face.

ICC competition is a whole new level for them.

Affiliate membership should be granted next summer and associate listing, it is hoped, could follow as soon as the 2007 annual meeting.

Birkenshaw emphasised that this provided a massive incentive for the Sarnians and he believes there is talent enough here to compete.

There will need some hard work to be done first, though, because as the technical director pointed out: 'It is not going to be fun to play the likes of Holland if you cannot compete.

'If we can field well and bowl with discipline, we can compete with anyone. A good yorker is a good yorker in anyone's cricket - that's the beauty of bowling,' said Birkenshaw.

'If we can get everyone fit, it will really help in the field and it will also help the batsmen score more runs.

'I know it is not going to happen overnight. It is a different culture over here. But in time the focus on representing Guernsey in international cricket will mean that local cricket may become secondary to the players.

'The ball is in their court now. They might have to forsake some things but the rewards will atone for the things they give up.

'It does not matter how fit you are, though, if you have not got the ability. You do need some talent,' he added.

Birkenshaw's main centre of attention currently is how to approach one-day matches.

'Players have got to know their roles more. If a guy is an attacking batsman and you use him as one, he then uses the aerial route and gets out, you have to say that's okay because he is doing it for the team - that's his role. One-day cricket is a planned game now,' he said.

'Bowlers have got to accept that they might not get wickets but if they bowl 10 overs for 40 runs, they have done a fantastic job for the team.

'The big thing I have got to get over to the bowlers is that you cannot afford to bowl extra balls in one-day cricket. There is no excuse for bowling no-balls - it's a killer.'

He will be asking island squad bowlers to work on yorkers and slow balls over the winter as variety is a big weapon in the short form of the game.

But perhaps the most important aspect that Birkenshaw emphasised was the need to be a good team and, positively, the island squad have undoubtedly become a close-knit outfit in recent times.

One concern he has, though, is the eligibility rules for ICC competition, which could rule out a fair proportion of the current Guernsey team.

'At under-15 and under-13 levels, there are some terrific players who will be getting exposure now until we need them in the senior team.

'Eligibility is something we need to think seriously about. There is no point in playing overseas players to look good if they cannot play for Guernsey in competition. It could mean that a youngster might get his chance a little bit early.

'But there is a bit of an age gap at the moment so we want to keep the older statesmen performing initially and then, hopefully, bring some younger players in.

'An older statesman, if he stays fit, could have a few seasons of international cricket.'

Next year Guernsey are lining up matches with sides such as Namibia, Canada and Scotland and they will provide a benchmark for our squad.

'We could be playing Namibia next year and they have just given England a good game,' said Birkenshaw.

'We are up against professional outfits really and we have got to get ourselves, in a short-time, from an amateur side to a semi-professional one so we can compete with them and get some good victories.