Guernsey hailed as a perfect host for European cricket

After the rain had cleared on Saturday, Bulgaria and Estonia – both almost 3,000kms away from the island – faced off against each other at Port Soif.

Estonia won fairly comfortably in the end, but officials and players of both sides were united in their support for Guernsey as a host.

Estonia Cricket Association president Tim Cross, who moved to Estonia from the UK a decade ago, was on his first visit to Guernsey and had only just arrived on the island on Saturday morning.

However, he already been impressed by what he had seen at Port Soif.

‘It’s nice to play on proper grass, most of the time around Europe we play on astroturf,’ he said.

‘And from what I saw of the island on the bus here it looks beautiful.’

As for cricket’s profile in Estonia, Mr Cross said that about 300 people played the sport in the country, adding that there was a 10-year plan under way which aimed to get more children into the game from an early age.

‘We want to get it into the curriculum at schools, and our goal is for 1,000 kids to play every week,’ he said.

‘If we can get schools teaching it and using the kit we provide, that’ll be a big step.’

Estonia men’s national team manager Terry O’Connor, an Australian who has spent much of his life working to promote cricket in central and eastern Europe, said that the facilities in Guernsey compared to those in some European countries was like ‘chalk and cheese’.

‘Cricket is clearly part of Guernsey culture, a lot of the pitches in Europe are less than 20 years old and are lacking the infrastructure and funding.’

‘Here the outfield is quite quick so you get good value for your shots, and on top of that the general facilities are fantastic. We’ve been very impressed.’

Bulgaria cricketer Isa Zaroo, a British dentistry student who has been studying in the Bulgarian capital Sofia for the past five years, was able to qualify to play for his adopted country after three years residency.

He said that cricket in country had grown significantly, with more young players getting involved.

‘We’ve got a 15 and a 17-year-old in our squad for this tournament, and most of the rest of us are students,’ he said.

‘The team is mainly picked from players who play at universities around the country, and then there are five or six native Bulgarians in the squad too.’

Originally from Birmingham with Indian heritage, Mr Zaroo said that Guernsey’s pitches reminded him a lot of the pitches he had played on in the UK in the past.

‘Having trained at the KGV the other day and playing at Port Soif today, both are nice, we’ve all been impressed,’ he said.