Worldwide showtime as cricket returns at the KGV
THE eyes of the cricketing world were on the KGV on Saturday.
Surely a purely domestic exhibition game, in which the result was of virtually no significance, has never garnered so much interest.
On the day Guernsey entered phase four of its Exit from Lockdown guidelines, the island hosted the first cricket game played in the British Isles since the coronavirus pandemic brought a halt to virtually all sport across the globe a couple of months ago.
The nature of the large playing field at the KGV ensured that local spectators, of which there were a decent number, could easily observe the ongoing social-distancing guidelines, but it was the online following through the live streaming of the game that really captured the imagination.
Within minutes of the International Cricket Council sharing a Guernsey Press photograph of the toss taking place for the GCB Covid-19 Appeal T20 Match, it had hundreds of likes and dozens of retweets.
‘Since making the decision to do the live streaming, we have really looked forward to showing the world about our cricket and the interest there has been because there is such a vacuum in sport at the moment has been remarkable,’ said Guernsey Cricket Board chief executive Mark Latter.
‘We had been contacted from countries we did not know existed, which bodes well for the future.
‘We could not have asked for a better day weather-wise. We had a few technical glitches [with the scoring system], but we’re just pleased to be able to get a game on and we’ll now liaise with the Sports Commission and the States to determine a road map towards playing more regularly,’ added Latter, who hopes that the second half of the Evening League season might be able to go ahead from the end of June.
Former Guernsey all-rounder Jeremy Frith attended the game in his role as Sports Commission director while also providing content for the BBC’s world-renowned Test Match Special.
‘It’s been a really busy few months for the Sports Commission and Steve Sharman has been doing some brilliant work liaising with Public Health and all the sports because we want to get sport going as quickly as possible as it’s important for people and important economically as well,’ Frith said.
‘We felt it was important to try to be first back in the British Isles. It was not our sole goal, but it is great for Guernsey and Guernsey cricket and hopefully opportunities arise off the back of it.’
Match report and more reaction in Monday's Guernsey Press.
