Inter Insular #17 1968

The match was played at FB Fields,Jersey
on Thursday 15th August 1968
for the Players Gold Leaf Trophy
Umpires John Le Poidevin, Bob Kimber, U Le L Golding (Guernsey) and Frank Crumpton (Jersey)
Scorers (Guernsey) and (Jersey)
Toss won by Guernsey who elected to bat
Match abandoned – rain stopped play

Guernsey innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR Jersey bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
A C BissoncBakerbM Conway5Howeson165443322.8
J Le M MartellbwbHoweson2M Conway164382482.4
†+R C N Rousselc&bM Conway30Hunt612604.3
G F ForteybPearce34--60Pearce103231602.3
W E R BarrettcLe MarquandbHoweson22---1Jones120381723.2
P L Le Cocqrunout26A Conway301404.7
R W MillscJonesbHoweson11
G B HilllbwbJones40--30
*E C G Enevoldsonnotout9
J Boothnotout4
C J Gervaise-Brazierdnb
Extras (b, lb, w, nb)14
Total (for 8 wkts dec. in 63 overs)197
Fall of wickets
1-7(Bisson),2-7(Martel),3-68(Fortey),4-102(Barrett),5-110(Roussel),6-123(Mills),7-181(Le Cocq),8-187(Hill)

Jersey innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR Guernsey bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
*D C HuntbGervaise-Brazier20Gervaise-Brazier100402304.0
D Ardennotout52Booth411904.8
A ConwaycBarrettbGervaise-Brazier7Barrett301204.0
A Bakernotout10Fortey411804.5
M Conwaydnb
D Billinghamdnb
H Jonesdnb
R Pearcednb
A Howesondnb
+†B Le Marquanddnb
M Dodddnb
Extras (b, lb, w, nb)3
Total (for 2 wickets in 21 overs)92
Fall of wickets
1-51(Hunt),2-75(Conway)

 

PREVIEW

Island XI for the cricket ‘Muratti’

Provided that all the players are fit, Guernsey’s team against Jersey on Thursday August 15 will be:

ECG Enevoldsen (capt), WER Barrett, AC Bisson, R Blanchford, J Booth, P Le Cocq, J Le M Martel, R Mills, W Le R Robilliard, RCN Roussel and AG Shepherd. The team was chosen on Sunday and speaking for the selectors Mr Bill Robilliard said yesterday that it had been agreed to select it on the basis that everyone would be fit. He added, however, that he was a very doubtful starter because of the injuries he received in a recent league match for Rovers , and that question marks also hung over Jack Martel and fast bowler Tony Shepherd. Martel is recovering from a hernia operation and Shepherd is suffering from a pulled muscle, neither having played recently. The only candidate for a place who had to be completely ruled out was Bryan Preston who still has a leg in plaster after breaking it at the end of the rugby season. Mr Robilliard added that he was unfit, Robin Roussel would be asked to keep wicket. The three reserves are C Gervaise-Brazier, GB Hill and F Fortey. Net practices are being arranged now and the day of the match and all players are expected to attend.

Jack Martel

C Gervaise-Brazier                              GEP

Jersey’s team includes former Guernsey player Alan Conway and is:

DC Hunt (capt), A Baker, D Billingham, A Conway, M Conway, P Le Cras, M Dodd, A Howeson, H Jones, B Le Marquand and R Pearce. The twelfth man is D Arden.

MATCH

‘Washout – Inter island cup unclaimed again’

With Jersey 92 for two in reply to Guernsey’s 197 for eight declared and only half an hour of the scheduled playing time left, Channel Islands cricket’s most important inter-insular match of the season – the summer game’s equivalent of soccer’s Muratti – was abandoned as a draw at the F.B.Fields in Jersey yesterday.

Rain, which fell continuously from early in the afternoon and which had already twice interrupted the game, was responsible for the premature ending which was called by umpires Frank Crumpton (Jersey) and John Le Poidevin after the opposing skippers, Jersey’s Dave Hunt and Guernsey’s Ted Enevoldson, had failed to agree on what course should be taken.

With no possibility of a result and with the ball having become almost impossible for the bowlers to grip, the umpires’ decision was unquestionably the right one. It would have been pointless and almost farcical for the match to have continued.

The game was the third for the Player’s Gold Leaf Trophy – and it was the third to finish inconclusively. The cup was presented jointly to the two captains by Mr Mick Weedon, of the Jersey Tobacco Company.

It was fine if breezy at the outset, but the conditions deteriorated badly as the day progressed and the wonder of it was that play continued as long as it did.

It was also somewhat surprising that Guernsey attained such a respectable total because they made a disastrous start, having opening bats Alan Bisson and Jack Martel back in the pavilion with only seven runs on the board.

Bill Robilliard and Tony Shepherd, through injuries, and Roger Blanchford, through illness, had been forced to withdraw from the side and Frank Fortey, Barry Hill and ‘Gerve’ Brazier had been brought in and Robin Roussel asked to keep wicket in Robilliard’s absence.

Hill and Fortey proved the team’s top run-getters. Skipper Enevoldson won the toss and Bisson and Martel went out to open the innings on a wicket which promised plenty of runs. But after he had scored only one single and a four Bisson put his bat to a short ball from Mervyn Conway just outside the off stump and was splendidly caught in the gully by Andy Baker. The total was only seven and before any addition had been made to it Martel was given out leg before despite the fact that his foot was right down the wicket and the ball off the line of the stumps. It appeared a harsh decision but Mr Crumpton gave it unhesitatingly.

Guernsey’s position was however retrieved by a fine fighting partnership between Roussel and Fortey which put on 61 for the third wicket. Reserve Fortey batted particularly well, producing several excellent strokes and hitting six fours in making 34 before he was bowled by Pearce, though early on he survived an appeal for a catch behind the wicket.

Roussel was then associated in another useful stand of 34 with Warren Barrett and when the latter was finally caught behind the wicket off pace-man Howeson, who was bowling into the stiff wind, lunch was taken with the score 102 for four after two hours’ play. Barrett’s 22 had included the only six the game was destined to produce.

Roussel ultimately lost his wicket at 110 when he was caught and bowled by Mervyn Conway after compiling 30 valuable runs. Ricky Mills and Pierre Le Cocq carried the total to 123 before the former went to a brilliant diving catch by Harry Jones at forward short leg.

This brought another of the reserves, Barry Hill, to the crease and, like Fortey, he proceeded to justify his inclusion to the full by hitting the side’s top score of 40. He and Le Cocq put on 58 for the seventh wicket which fell when Le Cocq, troubled by an injury and using the services of a runner, was run out after making 26. Hill, only 12 of whose runs came in boundaries, stayed until the total had risen by six to 187 when he was given out leg before, this time seemingly quite correctly, and after Enevoldson and John Booth had added a further 10, rain forced the players into the pavilion.

Guernsey had been batting for only 20 minutes short of four hours all told and skipper Enevoldson elected to declare, thus leaving Jersey only two and a quarter hours in which to get the runs.

Captain Dave Hunt and reserve Dave Arden, who was standing in for the unavailable Phil Le Cras, opened Jersey’s innings at four o’clock and they put on 19 in the 15 minutes before the tea interval. They reached the half century mark in 45 minutes but, only one run later Brazier clean bowled Hunt who had made 20.

It was now raining steadily and at ten minutes past five with Jersey on 61 for one, the players came in again. Play resumed once more 15 minutes later and Arden and Alan Conway pushed the score along with some attractive shots until, with 75 on the board with only 45 minutes left, Conway was caught at deep mid-on by Barrett to give Brazier a second victim.

Baker came out to join Arden and also proceeded to bat well. Arden went on to compete a grand half-century but shortly afterwards came the umpire’s decision to call it a day, with Jersey still 106 short of their target.

REVIEW

Time to reconsider conditions?

Cricket at top level is suffering from the same malaise as Test matches … the dreadful draw is robbing it of vitality. Few things in cricket are more exciting than a tie, and few more boring than a ‘lost time’ draw. Has the time come to reconsider the playing conditions of the cricket ‘Muratti’? It is a question prompted by this week’s third drawn inter-insular which means that the Gold Leaf trophy has still to be won outright.

Rain was the villain of the piece, as it has been in the past, for it was rain during an inter-island match which led to Guernsey cricketers discussing and eventually bringing about the new Weekend League. One thing which Channel Island cricket officials may consider is the possibility of playing the inter-insular at a different time of the year. August invariably brings many rainy days and is, perhaps, more of a gamble than other months. Certainly it would be good for local cricket to ensure a result in the top game of the season. A way should be sought – and found!

The players must contribute. Positive play can be encouraged by the regulations, it can be put into effect only by the players. They did not keep the game moving quickly enough on Thursday when Guernsey’s batting was disappointing against bowling which could hardly claim to be particularly penetrating.

Fortunately for the good of the match both sides had been forced to call on reserves, for it was the reserves who did most to give the game some character. Barry Hill and Frank Fortey hit nearly half of Guernsey’s runs between them and Gervaise Brazier took the only two Jersey wickets which fell.

For Jersey Dave Arden (standing in for Phil Le Cras) did most to ensure that their scoreboard kept moving even though they were chasing an almost impossible task. Arden hit 52 before rain ended his, and the side’s, innings. Robin Roussel, who took over as wicket-keeper in Bill Robilliard’s absence, made a fine job of the task. He kept down the ‘Mr Extras’ tally to three and did not pass up any chances. Overall neither side attacked the bowling tenaciously enough and Guernsey must take the bigger share of the criticism; by the time Jersey batted the target-time ratio was so heavily weighted against them that (under prevailing laws of the game) they could be excused going for a draw.

Off the field there was some discontent in the Guernsey camp. The team was threatened with at least one withdrawal because players have to pay all their own expenses. There is a school of thought that players should be happy to pay for the honour of representing the island; but a more practical belief is that island teams should not suffer because players genuinely cannot afford to do so. It would be invidious to introduce a ‘means test’, so the only acceptable solution would be to pay a part of each player’s expenses. This is something for local cricket authorities to discuss during the close season – and they will discuss another possibility which will be of more direct interest to a spectators: the possibility of a visit by Leicester County CC next season. Arrangements are already in hand for Leicester to visit Jersey during July and it is understood that they would like to come to Guernsey for a couple of days afterwards. Another possible attraction is closer at hand, a cricket ‘Upton’. Jersey champions Georgetown have challenged Guernsey champions Rovers and have offered to come to Guernsey to play the match.