Covering all bases to avoid a matte finish on Finnish mat
ANDY CORNFORD has already begun his Finland fact-finding mission.
More specifically, he wants to find out all there is to know about the cricket grounds on which his Guernsey team will be attempting to win their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 Europe Qualifier in June.
The Sarnians are one of eight nations – along with their hosts, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg and Sweden – who will be bidding to secure a place in the Europe Final.
Only one will progress and the island head coach revealed his current quest is to ‘try and get as much information as we can’ on the challenge that lies ahead.
‘I have done a little bit of searching on the internet – on YouTube I’ve seen a few games that have been played there between some countries – but it’s very much an unknown for us,’ said Cornford.
‘They [Cricket Finland] look well established. It’s good that another country hosts it, that’s the beauty of playing ICC cricket – you can play in places you’ve never played before.’
However, the one thing all 24 nations going through the European qualifying stage knew beforehand was that wherever their tournament was, they would be playing on artificial pitches.
‘I’ll be honest, it’s disappointing it’s not on grass, I think we’d all prefer to be playing on grass, but unfortunately we do not make those decisions,’ Cornford said.
‘We even hear that the surfaces will be relaid prior to the tournament – or rumours are that could be the case – so any pre-knowledge on how those surfaces might play is pretty relevant at the moment.
‘There’s so many different types of mats around, some bounce, some stay low, some turn, some don’t do anything. It’s not an easy one and it’s a case of trying to cover all bases because it’s just going to be unpredictable.
‘Hopefully we will get a bit of insight into what those grounds are like, who are supplying the surfaces and try to do as much homework as we can.
‘Every team is going to be the same, but it will certainly level the playing field by playing on a mat.’
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 Europe Qualifier B – June 24-30 in Finland: Finland, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Luxembourg, Sweden.
More in Wednesday's Guernsey Press.
