Biggins 'thrilled' to be on international stage

GUERNSEY take to the pitch in Hastings today for their biggest game ever. Forget the inter-insular clashes and the long struggle over the best part of a decade to beat the old enemy.

With International Cricket Council membership looming, the games today and tomorrow - particularly today's clash with Namibia, one of the favourites for next month's ICC Trophy in Ireland - mean everything to captain Andy Biggins and his team.

Namibia played in the last World Cup in 2003. They even made a decent fist of it against England. Yet Biggins remains confident in the ability of his side to compete.

'Bangladesh beat Australia the other day and over 50 overs, we've got a better chance against Namibia than they had. There's nowhere near as big a gulf between us and Namibia as between Australia and Bangladesh.

'The beauty of it is that every single one of the team is scoring runs, bowling well, fielding well. There can be no excuses. We cannot blame being out of form - we are playing as well as we can.'

The Optimists batsman is tingling.

'I find these games absolutely thrilling,' said the 30-year-old. 'We're so lucky. Generations of cricketers haven't had chances like this.'

But responsibility goes with opportunity, said the skipper.

He believes that the island's best players should be dragging up the rest of Guernsey cricket, not merely extending the gap between the best and the rest.

'There is a responsibility for the individuals who do play to go back and bring something extra to the league. They can have a major impact.

'The best players have brought Guernsey cricket on but they are not particularly upfront about it. People are watching and learning from them.'

The island team - Club Guernsey, as it has become - has already exceeded expectations over three games in Scotland this season and defeated Norfolk and a strong MCC side.

Biggins praised the close-knit nature of the squad - far better than the mix of Guernsey and Jersey players who used to appear for the Channel Islands in the ECB 38s competition, he said - and hinted that the team management was likely to stick with the trusted 'three spinners' line-up which had served them well this season.

Spinners, said Biggins, frequently came out with the best economy rates and most wickets in Twenty20 cricket and Guernsey has three quality bowlers in this vein in Jeremy Frith, Gary Rich and Aaron Scoones.

'This is a journey into the unknown,' he added. 'What we are desperate to do is compete, anything else is a bonus. This is a genuine marker to know where we are, but a win is not beyond the realms of possibility.'

But Guernsey cannot ignore the Jersey challenge.

'Our season will still be judged on Jersey and it's hard not to get up for a game like that, with 500-600 people watching, but in terms of the quality of cricket, it would mean more to me to beat either of these sides,' said Biggins.