Guernsey European Qualifier 2024

DateTeamVenue
Wed 21st August 2024BulgariaPort Soif at 10.30am
Thu 22nd August 2024MaltaKGV at 3.30pm
Fri 23rd August 2024No games
Sat 24th August 2024FinlandPort Soif at 10.30am
Sun 25th August 2024EstoniaKGV at 3.30pm
Mon 26th August 2024No games
Tue 27th August 2024Rest day
Wed 28th August 2024FINAL v DenmarkKGV at 3.30pm

All photographs used in this tournament are by the kind courtesy of Martin Gray and can be found on his GuernseySportPhotography website, with much gratitude to his dedication and permission to use them.

Germany, Italy and Denmark set to become ICC pathway event hosts for the first time. The road to ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 will see a record 30 nations participating in Europe’s Sub-Regional Qualifiers.
(Pathway to U19 Men’s and Women’s World Cups will take place throughout July & August 2024.)
Next year will see three new countries given the opportunity to host an ICC event for the first time, with Italy, Germany and Denmark joining seasoned hosts Scotland and Guernsey in a packed summer of ICC pathway cricket in Europe in 2024.

A record 30 countries will compete in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Sub-Regional Qualifiers, with three tournaments happening between June and August in Italy, Germany and Guernsey.
Andy Wright, ICC Regional Development Manager – Europe said: “We’re delighted to announce the schedule for the Europe Qualifiers for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. This will, once again, be our biggest summer of cricket in Europe with no fewer than 30 countries entering the qualification pathway between June and August 2024. We’re also excited to be hosting these events in Germany and Italy for the first time and wish to thank the DCB and FCrI (Cricket Italy) for all their hard work to date. Taking the third qualifier to Guernsey is testament to the outstanding job they did in hosting our U19 Men’s CWC Europe Division 2 Qualifier back in 2022, and we’re pleased to be bringing men’s international cricket back to the Bailiwick.”
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Qualifier A Host: Italy Dates: 9-16 June 2024

Participating Teams; Italy (Qual), Romania, Austria, France, Portugal, Isle of Man, Israel, Luxembourg, Hungary, Turkey

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Qualifier B Host: Germany Dates: 7-14 July 2024

Participating Teams; Jersey (Qual), Germany, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Serbia, Gibraltar, Croatia, Slovenia

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Qualifier C Host: Guernsey Dates: 21-28 August 2024

Participating Teams; Group One – Guernsey (Qual), Bulgaria, Malta, Finland, Estonia.

Group Two – Spain, Denmark, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece

‘Hosts ‘on target’ as preparation ramps up for World Cup qualifier’ Guernsey Press 5th Aug


Home excitement ahead of hosting ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier C this month ramped up with the Guernsey squad announcement this week, says Jeremy Frith.
Guernsey’s men welcome nine other nations later this month as they look to progress to next year’s Europe Final, which forms part of qualifying for the T20 World Cup. (Picture by Andrew Le Poidevin)
The 14-strong group was revealed on Wednesday night and the Island’s director of cricket reported that ‘everyone is in a good place’ as they prepare to challenge for a place at next year’s Europe Final where the Netherlands, Scotland, Italy and Jersey await. ‘It has been pretty much two years to get to this point,’ said Frith. ‘It goes back to what we started in trying to get everyone back and wanting to play cricket for Guernsey. There have been lots of significant steps taken along the way to help us get to this point, with a lot of unsung heroes coming on board such as Rob Thomson as manager, Craig Hogan as coach, Ella Widdowson as performance analyst as well as the appointment of Ollie [Nightingale] as skipper, of course. ‘We are on target for where we want to be. Everyone is available and on form, fully fit and having played good cricket. ‘If two years ago you’d have offered me that at this point, I would have taken it … and if you offer me that in three weeks, I would be even happier.’
There is a good mix of youth and experience, with Josh Butler returning in place of Charlie Birch in the only change to the Inter-Insular Cup squad from June, when the Sarnians finished the series on a high by beating Jersey for the first time in a T20I. Guernsey will face Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland and Malta in their group at the qualifier and need to finish top of the table to reach the final, with only the outright winners progressing to the Europe Final.
‘We’re pretty confident that we have the best squad available to us,’ Frith said. ‘We have had quite an established and settled line-up for a time, but there are a lot of people performing well and training hard, so they’re challenging and pushing for places, making it trickier for us as selectors, which is how it should be. ‘There are guys who will be disappointed to miss out on the team and it is hard to leave people out because they have all worked hard, but with it being a tournament at home, you want the reserves to feel part of the squad because if anyone suffers an injury or anything, someone else will come in. So as far as we are concerned for now, it is effectively still a squad of 18.’
Frith added that the squad have learnt a lot this summer from how they will go about playing international T20 cricket on matting pitches, with the short ball being more of a weapon to the bowlers, but they will wait until the tournament itself to assess the opposition. ‘It is more about trying to understand, as the Belgium games showed us, that anything can happen at any point of a T20 game and so we will keep the focus on ourselves and what we can control,’ he said.
He emphasised, though, that the Guernsey fans could play a big part as the squad’s figurative 15th man. ‘It is massive for us to have the support of the home crowd and we want to engage as many people as possible when it comes to the tournament,’ Frith said. ‘It is a good day out and you could be part of something special for Guernsey cricket, so we want to pack the KGV and Port Soif for our games.’

The tournament runs from 21-28 August. Guernsey squad: Ollie Nightingale (captain), Tom Nightingale (vice-captain), Luke Bichard, Martin-Dale Bradley, Josh Butler, Ollie Clapham, Zak Damarell, Ben Ferbrache, Ben Fitchet, Charlie Forshaw, Harry Johnson, Adam Martel, Dane Mullen, Matt Stokes.

The tables after the group stages finished:

Group AMatchesWonLostNo ResultPointsNRR
Guernsey431062.95
Finland431062.18
Estonia43106-0.10
Malta41302-0.58
Bulgaria40400-3.98
Group B
Denmark430174.87
Spain430171.26
Czech42204-0.37
Cyprus41302-1.63
Greece40400-2.88

The final matches are:

9th/10th place ………. Bulgaria and Greece

7th/8th place ……….. Cyprus beat Malta by 6 runs

5th/6th place ……….. Estonia beat Czechia by 7 wickets

3rd/4th place ……….. Spain beat Finland by 46 runs

1st/2nd place ……….. Guernsey beat Denmark by 6 wickets

The Regional finals will be played in 2025, the teams involved are: Scotland, Netherlands, Italy, Jersey, Guernsey