Plan to 'develop and expand' GPL as Mug take top spot on return
‘Everyone got what they were after.’
That was the verdict of winning captain Tom Kirk after his Male Uprising Guernsey side came out on top of the newly-revived Guernsey Premier League on Saturday.
The three-team, franchise-style tournament saw a trio of aspiring Hampshire professionals paired up with carefully-matched teams comprised of the best local players, with Mug edging Headway in their decisive round-robin game to clinch the title.
Having posted a relatively modest 128-9 off their 20 overs, spinner Adam Martel led the way with 4-19 as Kirk’s side produced a fine display in the field to restrict Headway – and their powerful batting line-up – to 117-8 to win by 11 runs at the KGV.
‘They started fine. They had a couple of set batters, but then once we got a wicket and then another wicket, we were really decent out there’, said Kirk.
‘I think all day, fielding-wise and bowling, we were a pretty class outfit, to be honest.
‘It’s good to get the GPL back on the calendar. Everyone here playing wanted to win it,’ he said.
In the first game of a Saturday double-header, Mug beat Ravenscroft Parkinson’s by five wickets to set up a winner-takes-all clash, that despite a knock of 72 not out from island skipper Josh Butler in their losing cause.
For Guernsey’s director of cricket Jeremy Frith, who takes his senior men to Jersey for the three-match inter-insular T20I series this weekend, the returning GPL provided the perfect tune-up.
'It’s a different dynamic to the churn of the day-to-day of the local cricket scene,’ he said.
‘It’s great to see the GPL back and see the guys all mixed up. It’s great to have the Hampshire lads here. They’ve added a lot and mixed in really, really well.’
Among them was eighteen-year-old Tom Cheater, who starred for Headway with bat and ball taking 4-14 and scoring 29 from 13 balls in their victory over Parkinson’s in Thursday night’s opening game.
‘I feel like it’s been quite competitive and good pressure on the boys to see what they can do’, he said. ‘I’m a T20 player so it’s been great to get a little insight of what T20 franchises are like and just get used to it.
‘It’s a new environment for me, obviously, not playing T20 before without my coaches around. I’ve quite enjoyed the freedom and the responsibility of getting out here and doing it my own way.’
Guernsey Cricket’s administrators hope to build on the GPL next year, with the potential for senior country pros to feature alongside academy prospects in a multi-weekend competition.
‘From my point of view I very much want it to be a day that everyone in Guernsey Cricket is part of,’ said Frith.
‘So whether that’s having all our age groups there, kids tournaments and Kwik cricket festivals’.
‘I think it’s a great opportunity to do a bit more, where normally we only get the opportunity to do that around the inter-insular, and that’s only every two years that we host it.
‘We know it’s a format that we can develop and expand.
‘Obviously we’re keen to get feedback from the players and everyone who’s here as to how it develops going forward.’
