Inter Insular #39 1990

The match was played at Grainville, Jersey
on Sunday 12th August 1990
for the Carlsberg Trophy
55 overs per side
Umpires HAJ Mountford (Guernsey) and J Le Gros (Jersey
Scorers R Gauvain (Guernsey) and P Kelly (Jersey)
Toss won by Jersey who elected to field
Jersey won by 9 wickets

Guernsey innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR Jersey bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
P VidamourbGraham1454633025.9Graham25.5113470021.857142861.3
*+†M C C WebbercRousseaubGraham42020.01020.0Middleton11235102663.2
S MackaycSearsonbMiddleton317170017.6Horton8130100483.8
W E R BarrettbHorton2644533059.1Searson6114100362.3
P Rousselc&bGraham1418212077.8
R E H AnthonycShortbGraham4911.01044.4
M Baconnotout3073823041.1
P WakefordbGraham411121036.4
N GarrettcShortbGraham814142057.1
D HearsebSearson2990022.2
R TurvillebGraham23839005.3
Extras (b0, lb1, w0, nb2)3
Total (in 50.5 overs)114
Fall of wickets
1-11(Webber),2-23(Mackay),3-34(Vidamour),4-60(Roussel),5-64(Barrett),6-68(Anthony),7-76(Wakeford),8-88(Garrett),9-91(Hearse),10-114(Turville)

Jersey innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR Guernsey bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
S BlampiedcMackaybRoussel391051183037.1Hearse104180101.8
T Rousseaunotout451391504032.4Turville103260002.6
T Carlyonnotout1124312045.8Barrett92160001.8
S CarlyondnbGarrett4.41140003.2
C GrahamdnbAnthony62180103.0
P Le CornudnbMackay2140002.0
*O RobsondnbRoussel312100180.7
C Searsondnb
+†S Shortdnb
P Hortondnb
B Middletondnb
Extras (b13, lb6, w3, nb0)22
Total (for 1 wkt in 44.4 overs)117
Fall of wickets
1-76(Blampied)

 

PREVIEW
Guernsey Press
‘Turville expected to gain his first cap’        by Rob Batiste

Rob Turville will be the only new cap in the Guernsey team which travels to Jersey next weekend searching for their fourth successive inter-insular victory. That, I expect, will be the outcome of the selectors’ meeting when they sit down to finalise the side after tomorrow’s Under-23 game at Grainville, the venue for next Sunday’s Carlsberg Trophy game.
Turville certainly impressed on his GCA debut last weekend and I would hope he is given the opportunity to share the new ball with Dave Hearse.
But I cannot see any other uncapped players forcing their way into a team probably stacked with batsmen. Indeed, after the batting disappointments of last weekend the selectors (Messrs Mills, Barrett and Enevoldsen) may be forced into playing an extra batsman at the expense of a bowler. And that bowler could well be Andy Burkhardt who has not been at his best this summer and was disappointing against the Silk Cut Jersey Evening Cricket League.
It would, of course, be a calculated gamble to play only two quicks and two spinners against Jersey. But Stuart Mackay’s unexpected quality spell last weekend was enough to convince this writer that he could do the job as third seamer against Jersey if, indeed, a third one is needed. I say IF because I expect the spin-twins Anthony and Barrett to bowl the majority of our overs next Sunday.
Over the last three years the two spinners have taken 19 wickets between them and largely contributed to Guernsey’s hat-trick of inter-insular wins. It is possible that the selectors might opt to play a third spinner with Neil Garrett, no mean batsman, coming in as a second left-armer. Garrett is one of a few players who could win an Island place on the back of a good performance in tomorrow’s Under-23 game.
Richard Veillard is highly rated by at least one selector and should he make a big score this weekend could come into the senior team as an extra batsman, and I would give serious consideration to playing Vince Kenny who has shown himself to be a fearless player of quick bowling and has been playing remarkably well, even with a dodgy knee.
As Jersey are likely to play four quickies – including Middleton who has, apparently, been in good form again this season – it is imperative Guernsey pick batters who can handle themselves. Paul Wakeford may not have scored heavily this summer but I expect him to be brought back into the middle order. Wakeford’s a determined player and handles the quicks better than most. Webber has proved himself time and time again against the quickies and I expect he and Peter Vidamour to carry on where they left off in the European Cricketer Cup.
Phil Roussel scored 15 as an opener in his one previous inter-insular appearance five years ago and he has scored so heavily this summer it will take a brave man to leave him out. Until recently I had reservations about Phil’s ability to play short-pitched bowling, but having seen him demolish Rob Turville in the recent Pilgrims-Pessimists ‘mini-series’ I have been forced to alter that view somewhat. Similar doubts surround Mark Bacon who seems to suffer from Fairbrotheritis! He destroys league bowling but does not come up with the goods at inter-insular level. Poor Mark has collected three ducks in four Guernsey-Jersey matches and including GCA-JCL games totals a mere 73 runs from eight innings. Perhaps nerves get the better of him. If only he could play his natural game then I’m sure the runs would flow.
Gary Rich appears to have blown his Island chances after an average season with the ball and flopping with the bat in last weekend’s inter-league B match. This is a pity because had he been bowling with the pace and accuracy of last summer Rich would be ideally suited for the third seamer’s role and batting at number eight or nine. Like Bacon and Veillard the lad has talent. My XI would be (in batting order): Mike Webber (captain), Peter Vidamour, Phil Roussel, Stuart Mackay, Paul Wakeford, Mark Bacon, Warren Barrett, Richard Veillard, Ralph Anthony, David Hearse and Robert Turville.

Mike Webber, not Ralph Anthony, will captain a Guernsey side that includes two new caps in Sunday’s Carlsberg Trophy inter-insular cricket match at Grainville, Jersey.

New Guernsey captain MCC Webber

The new boys are Pessimists Robert Turville and Neil Garrett, who claimed nine wickets between them in Sunday’s Under-23 inter-insular win at Grainville.

New cap Neil Garrett                GEP

New cap Rob Turville             GEP

The full team is:
Webber (Cobo, captain), Peter Vidamour (Pessimists), Stuart Mackay (Optimists), Phil Roussel (Pilgrims), Paul Wakeford (Pilgrims), Mark Bacon (Pessimists), Warren Barrett (St Saviours), Anthony (Salemites), Garrett (Pessimists), David Hearse (Pilgrims), and Rob Turville (Pessimists). St Saviour’s skipper Richard Veillard is 12th man.

The selection of fast-medium bowler Turville was widely expected even before he took five wickets against the Jersey Under-23s. Garrett’s four wickets in the same match probably won him a place just ahead of an extra batsman – Veillard – or a third seamer, probably Miles Dobson. So while Jersey contemplate using a four-pronged pace attack, Guernsey go into the 55 overs per side game with three spinners.
Jersey batsmen have shown themselves to be weak against spin in the past and I regard it as a sensible move to plump to blood a player of obvious potential like Garrett, rather than play a third seamer who is struggling for form, as is certainly the case with Dobson and Andy Burkhardt. Mike Kinder could have expected to play had the game been at the College Field, but his bowling is unsuited to the hard and bouncy Grainville wickets. Garrett, importantly, is also a very handy bat to be coming in at nine.
The rest of the team is very much as expected with Webber, who lifted the European Cricketer Cup aloft, given the captaincy ahead of Anthony, who skippered the side to their inter-insular wins in 1988 and 1989. There is little to chose between them, but Anthony may have cooked his goose for initially showing a little reluctance to take on the job. Wakeford’s reputation as a determined middle-order bat who thrives on the big occasion has won him a place deservedly, even though he remains short of runs in domestic cricket. But there is no place for Sunday’s Under-23 century maker Vince Kenny. His wonky knee probably counted against him in the final analysis but his time will surely come as it will for David Marshall and Pierre Moody, two more of last year’s excellent Elizabeth College 1st XI who impressed in Guernsey’s SGB Trophy win at the weekend.

Stuart Mackay    Pete Vidamour    Rob Turville    Neil Garrett    Dave Hearse    Paul Wakeford    Richard Veillard (12th man)

Mark Bacon    Mike Webber    Warren Barrett    Ralph Anthony    Phil Roussel                                                        GEP

Warren Barrett will become Guernsey’s most capped player, surpassing Pierre Le Cocq’s 22 appearances, when he steps out at Grainville tomorrow in the annual Carlsberg Trophy inter-insular. It is 29 years since Warren made his Island debut and, not surprisingly for a man of such outstanding ability, he has gone on to score more runs and take more wickets than any other local player in Guernsey-Jersey cricket. He requires just three more runs for 500 in inter-insular games, having scored four half-centuries in averaging 31.06. There is also the little matter of 50 wickets and goodness knows how many slip catches. Ralph Anthony, with 14 caps, is Guernsey’s second most experienced player, while Mike Webber takes on the captaincy in his 11th Island match. Guernsey go into tomorrow’s game chasing their fourth successive inter-insular success, their recent good run having nudged them ahead of Jersey in the overall series by 11 wins to 10.

MATCH
Guernsey Press
‘Graham makes it gloomy for Guernsey’        by Rob Batiste

What a contrast! This time last year Guernsey left the College Field to a standing ovation after their third consecutive victory in senior inter-insular cricket. At Grainville yesterday afternoon, the only applause came from the home supporters after Jersey’s overwhelming victory over Mike Webber’s Guernsey side. For the large contingent of Guernsey supporters it was a day that had promised so much and delivered nothing but anguish.
One ball from man-of-the-match Colin Graham summed up the days proceedings. The ball in question felled Warren Barrett. Guernsey were down and definitely on the way out! From a supporter’s point of view the game was either, depending on your allegiance, an unqualified success or an unmitigated disaster. From a purist’s viewpoint it was a terrible game simply because of its one-sided nature. While it is a little unfair to take anything away from a man who took seven for 34 from 25.5 overs, it was Guernsey’s complete lack of application when batting, as opposed to Graham’s bowling that ensured Jersey regained the Carlsberg Trophy.
On a glorious day for cricket the Guernsey side made full use of the sun to top up their tans. What they should have been doing was, like Jersey’s Trevor Rousseau later in the day, grafting their way towards a respectable total. Webber and Peter Vidamour got their side off to a slow start before the former, who had looked in absolutely no trouble against Graham and the veteran Barry Middleton, grew impatient and threw their wickets away. Conscious of the gap at mid-wicket, Webber tried to force across the line, only to see the ball loop towards Rousseau, who took a good running catch.

Guernsey’s top scorer Mark Bacon hooks against Chris Searson                   GEP

However, the biggest psychological boost for Jersey came with the dismissal of last year’s centurion, Stuart Mackay. His luck didn’t stretch further than two overs. Always vulnerable early on, Mackay, after paddling a catch inches wide of Tony Carlyon at square-leg, slashed at a short ball from Middleton only to see Chris Searson take a well judged catch in the gully. The events that took shape after Mackay’s exit will no doubt be a talking point among Guernsey supporters for years to come. Webber, in an attempt to stop the rot, opted for experience in the form of Barrett and Ralph Antony. In doing so he had to alter the batting order. The gamble backfired badly. If it had worked Webber would now be the hero. As it didn’t he will probably be cast, somewhat unfairly, as the villain. My only reservation would be the decision to push Paul Wakeford, a specialist bat, down to number eight.
When Vidamour played on to Graham after a watchful knock, occupying 54 balls, Jersey were on a high. Barrett and Phil Roussel steadied the innings, putting on 36 in six overs, before Roussel, who played a couple of glorious square-cuts, was caught and bowled off bat and pad. Barrett was next in a macabre procession of coming and going. Having batted with a great deal of confidence, Guernsey’s most capped player got himself out at a crucial time. After whipping Paul Horton off his legs to the leg-side boundary he tried to repeat the shot next ball and was bowled.

Rob Turville takes evasive action at Grainville against a bouncer from Colin Graham                                GEP

Trouble became disaster when Guernsey collapsed from 64 for five to 91 for nine. Anthony and fellow left-hander Neil Garrett were both caught at the wicket off the thinnest of edges, while Wakeford, in an attempt to take the attack to the oppositio9n was bowled. Dave Hearse fell the same way last ball before lunch and it seemed to Jersey as if the toughest hurdle had been overcome. However, Mark Bacon, who had stuck to his task well before lunch, and Rob Turville had other ideas. The Pessimists pair put on 23 for the final wicket, but more importantly they frustrated the opposition for a further 11 overs. Bacon’s display was a mixture of Caribbean strokeplay and cautious defence, while Turville held firm for 34 balls before he scored a run. When Turville became Graham’s seventh victim, courtesy of a slower ball, Bacon, with a classy undefeated 30 in 74 balls and 82 minutes, had given Guernsey a glimmer of hope.

David Hearse, bowled by Chris Searson, shows how not to do it                           GEP

However, with an asking rate of just over two runs per over, Guernsey needed early wickets. They failed to get them and Jersey triumphed with 11.2 overs in hand. Webber’s side gave it everything in the field, but they simply didn’t have enough runs to play with. Jersey were content to drop a bat on ball and pick up the odd run whenever available. Guernsey’s two chances came in the third and the sixth overs. The first, a thin edge from Rousseau, flew between wicketkeeper and first slip at a catchable height. The second, offered by the same player off the bowling of Turville, signalled Guernsey’s last chance. Anthony, running forwards from mid-off to mid-on, failed at the second attempt to cling on to a mishit full toss.
Rousseau and Steve Blampied put on 76 for the first wicket in 36 overs. Despite looking bemused by the three-way spin attack of Barrett, Garrett and Anthony, both players stuck to their task with admirable aplomb. Blampied, after several delightful drives in his lengthy stay, eventually fell to a brilliant one-handed catch by Mackay at backward square-leg off the medium pace of Roussel.
Tony Carlyon, after surviving a loud and confident shout for leg-before in Roussel’s next over, saw Jersey to victory with a delightful flick off his legs to the mid-wicket boundary. At the close Rousseau had batted for two and a half hours on his way to an undefeated 45 scored from 165 balls.

Mike Webber appeals unsuccessfully against the Jersey batsman Trevor Rousseau                 GEP

On the day Guernsey were well beaten because they failed to apply themselves against a bowler of Graham’s pace and accuracy. However, in Turville, Bacon and Garrett, they have three players who showed what could be in years to come. In last week’s Under-23 inter-insular Graham’s figures were 12-1-47-0. Yesterday they read 25.5-11-34-7. It seemed only fitting that on a day when Barrett scored his 500th inter-insular run and Middleton claimed his 50th wicket, a 23-year old should steal the show.

REVIEW
Guernsey Press
‘Batsmen blamed for Guernsey defeat’        by William Walden

At Grainville last Sunday Guernsey lost their first senior inter-insular since 1986. If the margin of defeat hadn’t been as comprehensive as it was, defeat by nine wickets is not a close game, then everyone would be looking forward to revenge next year. However, such was Jersey’s, or should I say Colin Graham’s domination of the game, people were bound to ask why? The answer, according to three of the people closely involved in Sunday’s game, Guernsey captain Mike Webber, Jersey captain Paul Robson and one of Guernsey’s three selectors, ex-Island captain Ricky Mills, lies with Guernsey’s application while batting against a bowler of Graham’s consistent accuracy.
With the benefit of hindsight it is very easy to criticise decisions made during the course of the game. Two decisions that drew criticism from Guernsey supporters returning home on Sunday evening were Webber’s alteration of the batting order and his decision to bowl Neil Garrett ahead of his more experienced left-arm spinner, Ralph Anthony. However, Webber said that the decision to alter the batting order was an attempt to stabilise the innings and hold back the strokeplayers, Phil Roussel, Mark Bacon and Paul Wakeford, for the fireworks in the last 15 overs.
Webber maintains that while Warren Barrett and Peter Vidamour were at the crease the plan worked. However, when the latter unluckily played on to Graham after looking in no trouble (a moment Webber described as one of the worst of the day), Guernsey panicked. The Guernsey captain went on to say that he bowled Garrett ahead of Anthony, after consulting the Salemites’ all-rounder, to bring the new cap into the game. It was hardly a gamble because Garrett had taken four crucial wickets on the same ground the week before.
However, Guernsey’s biggest problem, as Webber was quick to acknowledge, was that his side failed to score enough runs. The pitch wasn’t at fault according to Mills. He said that Guernsey umpire John Mountford had told him the pitch was perfect for batting. Robson agreed, adding that it was fast and true, but perfectly suited to a man of Graham’s bowling ability. Graham has the rare ability to bowl a consistent line and length at a healthy pace over a long spell, in Sunday’s case 25.5 consecutive overs.
Robson said he saw Graham as the key to victory. He told his bowlers before the game, ‘Bowl straight at the stumps and we will let them (Guernsey) make the mistakes.’
Webber cited Rob Turville’s batting performance as an example of what might have been. Coming in at number 11 he played every ball on merit and together with Mark Bacon, Guernsey’s top scorer, dropped a bat on the god ball and punished the loose delivery. Webber said that the earlier batsmen tended to let Graham take charge. The Jersey captain was more critical of the Guernsey batting. While he acknowledged Webber’s view that Graham bowled a brilliant spell he said that several of the Guernsey batsmen lacked application while at the crease. As a result they threw their wicket away.
The answer to this lack of application against pinpoint seam bowling, according to Mills, lies in the standard of local cricket, especially seam bowling and pitches. He says, ‘All batsmen in Guernsey are spoilt because of the lack of good seam bowling, consequently, when we meet the likes of Colin Graham we suffer.’ He has a valid point. He believes that while local seamers move the ball and may be quick, they have nothing on the likes of their English counterparts. Mills believes that the quicker we learn to play against accurate seam bowling on good grass pitches the easier it will be to avert such disasters in the future.
One such player who should, in my mind, be given the chance to put such theory into practice is Old Elizabethan opener Dave Marshall. In many people’s opinion Marshall is, along with Stuart Mackay, the most technically correct player in the Island. His experiences in this year’s UAU competition in England, in which he came up against several contracted county players, have no doubt helped his technique.
Webber was bitterly disappointed for his side and their supporters, but they can take heart from Robson’s example. The Jersey captain put his success down to innovation on the part of Jersey’s three new selectors, Derek Breed, Dave Billingham and Trevor Moore, who chose a team with 5 players under the age of 25. Guernsey have a wealth of talent in this department.