ICC World Cricket League Division 6 Malaysia 2011

17th Sept	Jersey	League
18th Sept	Fiji	League
20th Sept	Kuwait	League
21st Sept	Nigeria	League
23rd Sept	Malaysia	League
24th Sept	Malaysia	Playoff

PREVIEW

Guernsey Press

‘Guernsey putting in hard yards’                  by Gareth Le Prevost

 

GUERNSEY players are taking it upon themselves to ensure they are in the best physical shape possible for the heat and humidity of Malaysia. The island side will feature in their second Pepsi World Cricket League Division Six tournament next month and for the second time it takes them to the Far East, with Singapore having held the 2009 edition.

The 14-man Guernsey squad for Kuala Lumpur was announced yesterday, but individual preparations were well under way before then according to manager Pete Vidamour. ‘We started having squad training sessions last week and this week the guys have started fitness sessions with Jon Le Tocq, as they did in pre-season, but I know for a fact that a lot of them are doing their own fitness work as well because, having been to Singapore, they are very aware of what that sort of heat does to you,’ he said. ‘We have actually talked more about the conditions we are going to encounter than the opposition. ‘During the tournament, clearly what we will do is try to play the best team for each game, but with the fact that we have got six games in eight days in extreme conditions, everyone is likely to have a crack of the whip.’ The squad sees two changes to that which played in the European Division One TZO Championship here last month, with Chris Van Vliet and Ben Ferbrache coming in for Tim Duke, who is unavailable, and Kris Moherndl. Both newcomers are proven to be dedicated members of the larger squad chosen at the start of the year. ‘With Dukey making himself unavailable, we felt we needed an extra bowler in there. Having said that, we were considering extra bowling cover anyway after we felt we may have been a bit light in the T20 tournament, although we do feel that Adam Martel gives us a useful left-arm variation,’ Vidamour said. ‘Chris came back into the island squad at the start of the year, put in a lot of hard work, bowled well at the start of the season and was unlucky to miss out on the T20, so he was the natural replacement for Duke. ‘He is a real trier – he does not let his head go down and he will give everything every time he plays.’ The manager has also been impressed with Ferbrache’s form over recent weeks. ‘Ferby did not have many opportunities before the T20 and we probably do see him as more of a 50-over player than a T20 one. ‘But following that T20 tournament, he has played a couple of really good knocks for Cobo in the Cl League, making 90-odd not out on a couple of occasions.

‘Also, while this was more of a minor consideration, we did not have any wicket-keeping cover and although Ben has not been a regular keeper in the past, he did some in Australia over the winter and has worn the gloves for Cobo recently. ‘He is, though, in the squad primarily as a batsman.’ The squad will be training together regularly between now and their departure date of Saturday 10 September. In that time, there is also the small matter of the inter-insular on Saturday 3 September at the KGV ‘Obviously, the side for that we will predominantly pick from the Malaysia squad, although if a situation does occur that      means we have to look outside of this squad, then we have the ability to do that,’ Vidamour said. Of course, Jersey are one of the sides who Guernsey will encounter in Malaysia, along with the hosts, Fiji, Kuwait and Nigeria. Jersey and Fiji both came down from Division Five while Kuwait and Nigeria earned promotion this year from Division Seven. ‘We obviously know Jersey very well and we have played Malaysia before, but we do not know a great deal of the other teams. ‘It is fair to say, though, that we do not think there will be any easy games. ‘We just have to worry about our own squad and if we perform to our capabilities, I expect us to do well,’ said the Guernsey manager. Matches will be played at the Kinrara Oval, Bayuemas Oval and Selangor Turf Club, all in Kuala Lumpur. The top two sides will qualify for ICC WCL5 to be held in Singapore in February 2012.

 

‘Inter-insular win means nothing – Guernsey skipper’      by Gareth Le Prevost

THE Pepsi World Cricket League Division Six starts today in Malaysia with the inter-insular take two. Guernsey and Jersey, arguably the two nations at the biggest disadvantage at this event in terms of playing in such heat and humidity, meet at the Kinrara Oval exactly two weeks after the Sarnians beat the old enemy by 147 runs at the KGV.

However, neither camp was reading too much into that result ahead of their clash in Kuala Lumpur.’ This is a totally different game and we will treat Jersey with the same respect as we will treat every other country here,’ said Guernsey captain Stuart Le Prevost. ‘It is crucial that we get off to a good start in this tournament as it is an important week ahead and there is no room for complacency in the opening game.’

His opposite number, Peter Gough, also looked at the bigger picture of the WCL rather than inter-island rivalry. ‘Preparations have been excellent and we are working with a side that is a lot younger than we have had for international tournaments in the past,’ he said. ‘It is the first WCL event for several of the guys, but we are as confident as we have been going into any other tournament. ‘Two weeks ago, we did not do the things well that we needed to do well. We have worked to address that in training and we feel fully prepared for the week.’

All six nations had their final training sessions at the Kinrara Oval yesterday, with the Guernsey squad having an hour in the nets before undergoing fielding drills for 40 minutes. While the second part of the session was taking place, rumbles of thunder grew louder and the ground staff placed covers over the square in bright sunshine as the clouds approached, five minutes before the heavens opened at 2.50pm local time. All the teams know to expect rain and the use of Duckworth/Lewis, but the locals say that even after a heavy deluge, the ground is playable again 15 minutes later so there is plenty of optimism that matches will not be reduced greatly once under way. As for the heat and humidity, Guernsey seamer Stuart Bisson compared it to that in Singapore, where WCL6 was staged two years ago. ‘It’s just as hot, but there seems to be more cloud cover and the breeze is very welcome when it comes up,’ he said.

‘It’s the humidity that makes it tough and from a bowler’s perspective, keeping the ball dry is difficult because your hands get sweaty. ‘I cannot really tell you too much about batting out there, but it looks tough,’ Bisson added with a chuckle.  Today’s other opening fixtures see arguably the two favourites Malaysia and Kuwait, meet at the Selangor Turf Club while Fiji play. Nigeria at the Bayuemas Oval.