GCB ‘well-placed’ to cash in on win
GUERNSEY cricket may have slid down the ICC T20 rankings to No. 39, but it is well placed to take advantage of the spike in interest in the game following England’s sensational World Cup triumph.
Two of the island’s most experienced cricket administrators, Mark Latter and Dave Piesing, certainly think so.
Latter, the Guernsey Cricket Board chief executive, who was at Lord’s to witness the final, said: ‘the pathways locally, from early introductions to cricket [Tots and Future Stars] and in schools onto club and national participation exist and being able and ready to welcome more to participate in these and want to become the next Ben Stokes will now be key.
‘This means having the right people in activator/coaching roles and the access to facilities and equipment to engage,’ he added.
Latter said the GCB’s new partnership with the Lord’s Taverners will allow it to put more equipment into schools than ever before.
‘No barriers through cost or snobbery should exist, playing in the park or on the beach should be embraced, as should just playing anyhow, anywhere, anytime. Communication is vital to ensure those seeking out cricket can find us and where they don’t we need to find them.
‘There will be a spike in interest for cricket, from those within the game now and those who either have yet to try it or in some cases maybe just fell out of love with it.’
Former GCB chairman Dave Piesing said that England winning the World Cup will hopefully have a similar impact to the Ashes win in 2005, with youngsters falling in love with the game.
‘Showing the final on terrestrial TV was a great move by Sky, enabling many more to watch the game live,’ he said.
‘The ICC/Sky TV deal funds much of our local development work, so free-to-air cricket really is a double-edged sword for the game. It creates new demand which then needs to be captured and developed, which in turn requires funding, including for extra pitches.
‘Our well-established junior development programmes already cover local schools, feeding into the now-thriving Junior Leagues.
‘The numbers wanting to join those programmes is very likely to significantly increase as a direct result of the World Cup win and we need to fully capitalise on that. Thankfully we are far better placed to do so than in the UK, where cricket has been abandoned by so many state schools, and where cricket development programmes run by counties struggle to get the same levels of penetration per capita that we can achieve here.’
While Jersey’s cricketers have moved up two places in the ICC World T20 rankings and now sit proudly at 24, Guernsey have dropped to 39 after their performances at the recent European T20 World Cup Qualifier on island. Jersey are now the fifth best placed European side behind England, Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands. The Greens are 11th best having been overtaken by the likes of Germany.
