Oz battle

GUERNSEY enter a new era on the world stage with their debut in the Indoor Cricket World Cup today. The under-19 side faces a daunting test in their first game against Australia on the main court in Bristol with the senior men's side meeting Pakistan on court two.

Indoor coach Jason Shambrook is in buoyant mood ahead of the challenge.

'I watched Australia train and they looked very sharp but we have a number of good players and if they can adapt to the indoor game they should put up good performances. If we can stick to our game plan and eliminate basic errors we will at least compete,' he said.

'No one realistically expects us to win very much first time out, without the facilities to train beforehand and having never played the game but when the indoor centre opens in Guernsey early next year, we can become a real force to be reckoned with,' he claimed.

'Indoor cricket can work together with outdoor cricket in Guernsey and offer some real opportunities for our players.'

The Guernsey squad of 25 players and staff were due to train at the indoor centre in Whitchurch yesterday afternoon.

Ex-Hampshire pro Lee Savident is joined in the senior side by South African Ryan Bishop, Jeremy Frith, Blane Queripel, Jonathan Orme, Ross Kneller, Mike Savage and Wayne Martel.

Hampshire Academy player Tim Ravens-croft, Tom Kimber, Jonny Warr, Ben McVey, James Mullen, Tom Kirk, Jonathan Clark, Chris Dravers, Adam Robin and David Hooper make up the under-19 squad.

'Fielding is a real key area for us and we will be working mainly on the angles that the ball comes off the netting. Our front court fielders will need to be sharp if we want to restrict teams from scoring,' said Shambrook.

About 300 players will be competing for four separate world titles - with 24 teams representing nine nations.

Guernsey's Cenkos Stockbrokers sponsored sides have had some training sessions, locally but the indoor conditions were far from ideal.

'It was useful to get the chaps together and we did our best to replicate the court conditions we will play in but it is obviously difficult to prepare without the indoor nets. We will give it our best shot and at the end of the day if you can play at world level, then what a fantastic experience,' said Shambrook.

In the eight-a-side matches batsmen bat for four eight-ball overs each. Every player has to bowl two overs and when a wicket is lost players lose five runs from the total but continue batting.

Three points are given to the winning team with a further four available as the four batting partnerships compete against each other for the highest score and bonus points called the 'skins'.

'Our aim is to pick up three 'skins' against Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and England and if we do that I will be over the moon and anything else is a bonus,' said the coach.

The growth of indoor cricket in the UK has been boosted recently with the sport being officially recognised by the sport's governing body, the ECB. There are plans for 27 new centres in the UK within five years.

Indoor cricket is hugely popular in Australia and New Zealand where there are in excess of 400 centres.

Islanders will be able to get live results and information on the tournament via www.bica.co.uk and the Indoor Cricket Guernsey website www.icg.gg will be regularly updated.