The Sarnians have tasted some shorter-format success against the old enemy in recent times with a couple of T20I victories under the current management regime, but the Caesarean golden generation have proved a tough nut to crack in 50-over cricket.
Coming off the back of last week’s double-header against Scotland A in which they won the second match by 25 runs to level the series having lost the first contest by a single run, Jersey will be red-hot favourites at Grainville again this weekend.
Meanwhile, from the Guernsey perspective, captain Ollie Nightingale admits that preparations have been far from ideal due to a front-loaded summer programme, which was a necessity because of the early ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Sub-Regional Qualifier tournament in Cyprus.
When asked if he feels they might be undercooked, he joked that ‘we’re certainly not overcooked’.
‘It’s strange. We’ve not been together since May,’ said the skipper.
‘So, yeah, it’s nice to get everyone together again. We’ve trained the last few weeks and we’ve tried to tick-over over the summer, but it’s been pretty challenging when we’ve not had any fixtures.
‘I think we did just about get it right for the tournament in Cyprus and actually performed fairly well. We got through our first game, which we probably had no right to win, and then just got better and better as the tournament went on and unfortunately lost a relatively close game to Jersey – one more wicket and we probably would have come away having won the tournament.
‘So we did a good job of peaking for that and then it’s been back into club cricket, which is always slightly more difficult, and it’s probably been a bit of a missed opportunity this summer unfortunately. But one game left and hopefully everyone’s looking forward to it.
‘We’re coming in probably having not had the competitive cricket that we wanted, but guys have got to find ways to perform. It’s not always perfect and we’ll see how we get on.’
Nightingale was quick to add, though, that ‘everyone’s over the moon’ with the news that Guernsey will progress to next year’s Europe Qualifier final and that could have a positive impact in the short-term, too.
‘I think the atmosphere around the group has improved – we played some good cricket when we were in Cyprus and perhaps probably deserved the opportunity anyway – so yeah, guys have taken it really well.
‘It means we might have some players another year and a bit more motivation over the winter to actually get in knuckle down and play in a tournament that is really exciting.
‘When we went away to Holland a couple of years ago, I think everyone appreciated that you were playing professional cricketers who were full-time and you were up against it and you’ve got to give the best account of yourselves you can. But actually, this tournament is a real opportunity to go and put a marker down against people and teams that perhaps have some professionals but are not fully professional outfit, and that’s quite exciting and being able to rub shoulders with them and test ourselves against them is actually something that everyone can look forward to.’
Switching back to what tomorrow might hold, Nightingale will have some newcomers to call upon with four teenagers in the squad – the Forshaw brothers Charlie and Freddie, Harry Johnson and Ed Robinson – the latter three of whom could be making their full inter-insular debuts.
He emphasised, though, that when it comes to important games such as this, it is about performing on the big stage irrespective of age.
‘Look, it’s always exciting when you get fresh faces in, but at the end of the day ... you want them to be winning games of cricket, and that’s the next thing for them in their development.
‘Obviously this weekend, we’re without a couple of senior players, which will be big holes to fill, but hopefully they can do that.
‘Freddie’s the newest one [with the others having been involved in T20I squads] and he’s showing some real promise. He listens well, really receptive to feedback, and he’s handy cricketer all around. He can bat, he can bowl and reputedly he’s really good in the field, so hopefully make use of that as well.’
Among the senior players missing are Nightingale’s brother Tom, who has broken a finger, and Zak Damarell, while Martin-Dale Bradley has stepped back this summer and Ben Ferbrache is away travelling.
That seemingly puts more weight on the shoulders of players such as Matt Stokes, Josh Butler and the skipper, but he has no intention of putting more pressure on any individual.
‘We just need to share the load. It’s a 50-over game of cricket and you’re only going to win if the team collective performs,’ Nightingale said.
‘It’s a long game. We don’t play much 50-over cricket, so you’re going to need everyone to chip in and do well.
‘I don’t think we can only rely on the senior players. Yes, hopefully they have a good day, but we’ve probably been over reliant on them in the past and it’s probably about time that everyone chips in.’
At the time of writing, Jersey had not named their team, but the rumour-mill suggests they may be missing some of their own big names.
However, Nightingale acknowledged that their strength in depth means that whoever takes the field in red will be a very capable outfit.
‘They’re a good team, they play a lot more 50 over cricket than us and they’ve had a real good run into it. They may not be at full strength, which probably helps us, but any team you play against Jersey, it’s always going to be competitive and they’re always going to have good players,’ he said.
‘So whatever you do first, you got to do it well. I think we’ve probably fallen foul of batting first the last couple of years and not really doing it well enough. But there’s a great opportunity to go and win a game of cricket against a proper side that will think they should hammer us. So with that comes excitement and hopefully we can go into the game and turn them over.
‘You’ve got to do things well for long periods. We know we can do it, it’s just about making sure that people step up and perform on the day, which is always the hardest bit.’
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