U19 trio go double Dutch
THREE of Guernsey’s under-19s will feature for the senior Island squad in the Netherlands later this month.
The junior squad are already there for the ICC U19 World Cup Europe Qualifier, which begins tomorrow, but on the completion of that tournament skipper Ollie Clapham, Charlie Birch and Charlie Forshaw will join up with the national men’s squad for their T20Is against Germany and 50-over fixtures against the Netherlands A.
Wicketkeeper-batter Alex Bushell is another fresh face from the squad who faced Jersey in the T20I Inter-Insular Cup Series, with Ben Fitchet, Lucas Barker, Zak Damarell, Martin-Dale Bradley and Tom Kirk unavailable for the trip.
Guernsey will be led in the Netherlands by Matt Stokes, following Josh Butler’s decision to step down as captain, with Tom Nightingale taking on the vice-captaincy role.
‘We’re excited because it’s another opportunity to play international cricket,’ said Guernsey director of cricket Jeremy Frith.
‘We have a slightly different team to the one we had for the Jersey games and that means those who missed out then will play a much bigger role this time and that is a great opportunity for them.
‘You always want to be able to pick from the strongest group, but the reality of playing international cricket as amateurs is that it’s hard to do that all of the time.
‘It is a good test of our strength in depth, though, and a chance for players to stake their claim for inclusion.’
Guernsey will travel on Sunday 13 August before facing Germany in back-to-back T20I games on the Monday.
The two sides will play a third T20 match the following morning before the 50-over games against the host nation’s A side on the Wednesday and Thursday.
Guernsey squad
Luke Le Tissier, Josh Butler, Tom Nightingale, Matt Stokes (captain), Ollie Nightingale, Ben Ferbrache, Ollie Clapham, David Hooper, Adam Martel, Dane Mullen, Luke Bichard, Alex Bushell, Charlie Birch, Charlie Forshaw.
