WATCH: Guernsey's men set for international return in Spain
Desert Springs seems an appropriate location for Guernsey to end their Covid-enforced international barren spell.
The Island men’s squad head to Almeria today ahead of this weekend’s ECI Spain T20I Tri-Series also involving the host nation and Norway with captain Josh Butler emphasising how important it is for his side to hit the ground running.
‘We are going to play in international games so our stats go up against the best players in the world,’ he said.
‘I think we probably don’t appreciate that we are playing an international game.
‘We are very lucky to represent our island across the world and in loads of different tournaments. I think playing an international T20 is as big as it gets – there are a lot of professional cricketers who never get the chance to play an international game, so we are very lucky, we are very excited and we can’t wait to get out there.
‘You can’t really beat, as amateurs, going away to represent your island so that’s what everyone is excited for.’
Guernsey will begin their campaign against the Norwegians tomorrow afternoon before games against the other two nations on Saturday before concluding their trip with a second game against Spain on Sunday.
‘It’s a pretty busy schedule, but that’s what you want, especially with T20, you want to play a lot of games in a short space of time,’ Butler said.
‘You can do all the training you want, and some of the lads have trained really well over the last couple of years, [but] it’s been hard not having the reward to play, so it will be a big test going out to Spain and seeing where we are against the other countries.’
With the kiya.ai T20 Inter-Insular Cup series also coming up in May and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Europe Qualifier in Finland starting in July, this weekend’s travelling group, which is without some big names for various reasons, have the opportunity to stake their claim for places.
‘When we get to Finland and when we get to the inter-insulars, there will be some names coming back in who are unavailable [for this trip], but it gives people coming a great chance to really prove themselves.’
Guernsey squad
Josh Butler (captain), Ben Ferbrache, Ben Wentzel, David Hooper, Dec Martel, Zak Damarell, Luke Bichard, Matt Stokes, Nathan Le Tissier, Ollie Newey, Ollie Nightingale, Tom Nightingale, Will Peatfield.
