Guernsey hopes to build indoor cricket centre on the island

Guernsey are hoping to follow a lead set by Channel Island rivals Jersey, who only missed out on qualifying for this year’s T20 World Cup on net run rate.

Jersey are ranked 28th in T20 cricket by the ICC and have reached the final round of qualifying for the last five T20 World Cups.

The two islands have been drawn in the same Sub-Regional Qualifier for the 2028 T20 World Cup in May, with the winning side from the 10-team event progressing to the European finals.

The recent success for Jersey has had a positive impact on Guernsey, according to senior men’s national team head coach Jeremy Frith.

“Jersey have done us a massive favour because I think when we went into the ICC and the World Cup, the idea of going to a World Cup was very much a dream, it was a bit unrealistic,” he told BBC Radio Guernsey.

“So for Jersey to be six, seven, eight balls away just on net run rate from actually going to a World Cup has laid down a really good gauntlet to us.

“That is an achievable dream, particularly with an expanding game as more teams come into global tournaments.

“So for Guernsey cricket it is a thing that we can aim at. It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight, it needs a lot of work.

“We definitely, like almost every other sport, need the corporate investment, the government support and everything else if we’re going to do that.

“But Guernsey at a World Cup, at under-19s, at women’s, girls, whatever, that’s an achievable aim, but it takes a lot of hard work.”