The top two teams from the five-nation tournament, which begins on Saturday, will progress to next year’s World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, and while they are just one step away from the ‘big one’, the Sarnians know it will take a massive leap for them to make it.
However, the role of underdogs in a competition that also features Scotland, Jersey and Italy as well as the Dutch hosts suits Ollie Nightingale and his side just fine.
‘It’s definitely a free hit. I think we go in with very little pressure, if any,’ said the Guernsey captain, who acknowledged how that scenario is a millions miles away from the sub-regional qualifier they won on home soil last summer to reach this stage.
‘Obviously being away from home, that’s different in itself. Last year it was obviously great being here, playing teams that we probably expected to beat until we got to the final.
‘But this time I guess it's a journey into the unknown, doing something we’ve never done before. So I think everyone’s just looking forward to it.’
Watch: Gareth Le Prevost speaks to Guernsey coach Craig Hogan
Since Nightingale took over the captaincy when Jeremy Frith took on the role of Guernsey’s director of cricket, and with the influence of coach Craig Hogan as well as the input of manager Rob Thomson, the Island side has made impressive progress.
The success in the 2024 sub-regional event, where a big home crowd cheered them on to a memorable final victory over Denmark, is just one example of that, along with the closely-fought Inter-Insular T20 I Series battles they have had with Jersey over the last two summers.
It is no wonder, then, that Nightingale reports belief has grown within the camp.
Guernsey fixtures
Sat 5 Jul - v Italy (3pm)
Sun 6 Jul - v Scotland (10am)
Tue 8 Jul - v Jersey (10am)
Wed 9 Jul - v Netherlands (3pm)
‘Obviously the win over in Jersey and then challenging in the two games that we actually lost was really, really pleasing, and it shows the progression we’ve made,’ he said of last month’s T20I Series, which came down to the last ball of the decider before Jersey emerged 2-1 winners.
‘So we go there with confidence, but we know we’re playing three sides on paper who are probably much stronger than us. But we’ll give it a go and see what happens.’
The trio Nightingale is referring to are Scotland, the Netherlands and Jersey, who are 13th, 15th and 27th respectively in the world in men’s T20I rankings. Italy, at 32nd, are also above 37th-ranked Guernsey, but the reputations of the leading three sides go before them.
That has made doing some homework on them a little easier.
‘I think you’ve probably seen most of them on TV, playing at a professional level at some stage or another, and obviously we spent some time in Holland a couple of years ago and played their A side and then Jersey we know a bit about.
'So, I guess a bit of a mix of homework and knowing a few of them from past experiences,’ Nightingale said.
But he added that the nature of T20 means his side has it in them to cause a shock or two.
‘If a couple of guys have a good day out, a couple of good performances with the ball and take some early wickets, we’ll give ourselves a chance.’
Any wins throughout the tournament could prove beneficial for Guernsey’s ranking too.
‘We’re probably in the fortunate situation where if we lose games it doesn’t really affect our ranking, but if we win one, we stand to gain an awful lot, probably much more than anyone else.
‘So that’s a little bit of a bonus and probably allows us to go in with the freedom that we can do and try and turn over one of the big sides.’
Guernsey begin their tournament against Italy on Saturday afternoon.
They face Scotland the following morning, then Jersey on Tuesday morning and the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon.
The games are being live streamed on ICC.tv.
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