'Making the cut will be tough' says Butler
GUERNSEY T20 captain Josh Butler is looking forward to having greater strength in depth at his disposal than he has enjoyed before – once cricket is back on the agenda.
The national squad were due to be heading to Finland in June for their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 Europe Qualifier, but that has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, as has all cricket for the time being.
Butler emphasised the importance of health and safety in these tough times, but when pushed he does break into a wry smile and references ‘Sod’s law’ about the situation.
‘All winter we were waiting to find out [from the ICC] about a tournament, we finally find out that it is in the middle of the summer – and it was quite nice to have that because usually they are in our spring or autumn somewhere, but this would have allowed us to build up towards it but still have some cricket behind you when we got there – then this happens and everything is up in the air again,’ said the skipper.
‘We have been really happy with the squad and how it was shaping up.
‘A few lads have come back in in recent times – Jason Martin and Matt Renouf for example – boosting the squad and adding to the depth.
‘We were starting to look around and discussing who we were going to leave out. Getting into that sort of position is key for us going forward.
‘Since I have been captain, this is the first year where we have been in that strong a position, so it’s just frustrating now that we are not going,’ he added.
Butler has been in regular contact with returning island head coach Andy Cornford, who is based in England and is extra busy in his job with East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service at the moment, to talk about how to keep squad members engaged during this time.
They have been doing yoga sessions and also individually putting their permitting two hours of outdoor exercise to use, although skills training is on hold.
‘It is hard to keep motivation going because you don’t know when this is going to be over and we don’t know when we are going to have a tournament, but we are trying to keep the lads together,’ Butler said.
‘They are using their two hours of exercise a day as exercise so that we are in some sort of decent physical shape, but hitting a ball and hands-on training is on pause for now.
‘Pastie [Cornford] is good at simplifying things. As he says, it is a waiting game, but there is no excuse not to keep yourself fit.’
More in Tuesday's Guernsey Press.