Three-rung jump could reap Greens extra $40k

GUERNSEY are now the 35th best cricket team in the world and substantially better off - probably - after their brilliant performance at Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division Six.

The Greens turned around their fortunes at the competition in Singapore after losing their first three matches against eventual champions Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia.

Facing relegation, they then went on to defeat Norway and Botswana to secure their survival before getting the better of Malaysia by just two runs in the third and fourth playoff match on Saturday to come third overall.

That result also saw them jump three places in the ICC One-Day International rankings from 38th to 35th.

The jump is expected to bring an extra $40,000 a year in funding from the ICC.

Guernsey Cricket Board chairman Dave Piesing declined to go into exact figures but he did confirm that the GCB currently receive more than $200,000 per annum.

He stressed that the funding system works on a new calculation undertaken every two years.

The calculation is a weighted scorecard of which 40% is attributed to the senior national team's global ranking, while 60% is attributed to a wide range of factors including playing facilities, participation numbers, number of qualified coaches and umpires among other things.

When the last calculation was carried out in autumn 2008, Guernsey suffered under the senior national team ranking as a result of failing to qualify for WCL Five from the 2006 European Second Division in Glasgow.

But after this year's successes, Piesing is now hopeful for a big increase in funding.