LISTEN: Ageas Bowl trip will kick-start busy year for Guernsey Cricket's men
The dates have been set – inter-insular cricket is back on the agenda.
And the Guernsey men’s preparations begin in earnest this weekend as they head to a training camp in Hampshire based at the Ageas Bowl, now knowing that their rivalry with Jersey will resume in a T20I Series on 20-21 May hosted by the Sarnians while the 50-over inter-insular will take place on Saturday 3 September in Jersey.
The England-bound 17-strong group includes a handful of under-19s who have their own ICC assignment to prepare for this year and will be supervised by high performance coach Nic Pothas and team manager Lee Forshaw.
High-performance bowling coach Steffan Jones is away in the IPL with the Rajasthan Royals but will join up with the squad later next month and in Spain for the upcoming T20I matches with Spain and Norway from 28 April to 2 May.
Ex-Island all-rounder Jeremy Frith will be in Hampshire to pick up his role helping the spin bowlers, which he will carry on across the season as his time allows.
LISTEN TO A FULL INTERVIEW WITH GUERNSEY CRICKET CEO MARK LATTER ON THIS WEEK'S GP SPORT PODCAST (FROM 26:00):
‘It’s a great opportunity to get away pre-season, train at a professional facility and set up our final plans for our first trip of the season to Spain,’ said Guernsey men’s captain Josh Butler.
‘It is also exciting to have some of under-19s with us to help their preparations for their ICC tournament later in the year, a few of whom will be pushing for a senior shirt in the near future.’
Guernsey Cricket Board chief executive Mark Latter is pleased things are now progressing with some degree of certainty after the disruption caused by the pandemic.
‘This trip across to Hampshire is the first sign that things are progressing differently this year with the removal of travel restrictions and it will be great to get the players together in our own little bubble where we can control the agenda and content,’ he said.
‘It will kick-start what is set to be a very busy season, allowing us to set the tone both on and off the field in how we want to go about our business.’
Guernsey training squad for Ageas Bowl trip
Josh Butler, Matt Stokes, Zak Damarell, Will Peatfield, Tom Nightingale, Ollie Clapham, Luke Bichard, Declan Martel, Ant Stokes, Ollie Newey, David Hooper, Ollie Nightingale, Marcus Thomas, Harry Duke, Ben Ferbrache, Ben Wentzel, Charlie Birch.
Inter-Insular schedule
15 May – Under 11, 13 and 15 Inter-Insulars at FB Fields
20/21 May – Men’s www.kiya.ai T20I Tri Series at College Field and KGV
25/26 June –Women’s T20I Series in Jersey
3 September – Inter-Insular Trophy (50 overs) in Jersey
4 September – U18 Inter-Insular in Jersey