Double-Dutch victory for Guernsey on Europe tour

GUERNSEY under-13s brushed aside those before them on their first foray into Europe. The young Sarnians came away from their tour of Belgium and the Netherlands with three wins from three games, including two victories over a full-strength Dutch outfit.

'We organised this tour to find out what standards we need to reach going forward into our ICC commitments,' said development coach Jason Shambrook.

'The tour went very well. The fielding was exceptional but the highlight was the bowling.'

Unsurprisingly, Tim Ravenscroft shone with the bat in the opening victory against Belgium Indians, scoring 103 as Guernsey racked up an imposing 258 for five in their 40 overs.

Charlie Wilkes-Green, Adam Clark and Andrew Dawson-Ball were also in the runs.

In reply, the Belgium Indians were skittled out for 104. The wickets were shared between Andrew Hutchinson, Tom Kirk and Matthew Renouf, all of whom returned excellent figures.

The following day, the team moved to Amsterdam and showed their Dutch counterparts the huge potential that the island has in this age group.

Wilkes-Green was the pick of the bowlers with three for 10 as the hosts were dismissed for 97. There were also two wickets apiece for Hutchinson and Max Ellis.

Guernsey reached their target with 10 overs and six wickets to spare, Ravenscroft again the top scorer with 54.

The final match was disrupted by rain, reducing it to a 22-over-per-side contest.

Adam Hindle took the initiative with the bat this time, hitting an unbeaten 33, while four others reached double figures as the visitors ended on 113 for five.

Holland fell 33 runs short of the Sarnians' total. Hutchinson and Tom Still were both extremely economical in their four-over spells.

'The Dutch fielded a full-strength side and we outplayed them in all aspects of the game,' Shambrook said.