Inter Insular #54 2005

The match was played at KGV, Guernsey
on Saturday 6th August 2005
for the Cherry Godfrey Challenge Trophy
50 overs per side
Umpires David Collen (Guernsey) and Phil Hermitage (Jersey)
Scorers Sue Veillard (Guernsey) and Lynne Aked(Jersey)
Toss won by Guernsey who elected to bat
Guernsey won by 89 runs

Guernsey innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR Jersey bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
*A BigginscShortbDriver423290017.39Driver10133270303.3
M OlivercBlackburnbGough58749012078.38Horton91550406.1
A BanerjeecDriverbCarlyon815220053.33Blackburn60320205.3
JDJ FrithcP GoughbMinty80951297184.21Carlyon5126101305.2
T DukecShortbDriver318240016.67Hague10062120606.2
S E Le PrevostcHaguebMinty4043436093.02P Gough3014110184.7
G H SmitlbwbHague1415272093.33Minty7055200217.9
D Van den Heevernotout27101512270.0
A Van Rooyennotout1361101216.67
G J Richdnb
+†J Ferbrachednb
Extras (b1, lb6, w29, nb1)37
Total (for 7 wkts in 50 overs)284
Fall of wickets
1-36(Biggins),2-56(Banerjee),3-110(Oliver),4-126(Duke),5-194(Le Prevost),6-242(Frith),7-245(Smit)

Jersey innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR Guernsey bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
P Goughrunout(Van Rooyen)4344525097.73Banerjee7034150424.9
*M HaguecFrithbBanerjee819250042.11Van Rooyen60300005.0
W JennerbDuke1127331040.74Van den Heever51290125.8
R DrivercSmitbFrith5666855184.85Duke5.211020015.61.9
T CarlyonbFrith2553572047.17Frith10036301203.6
M PatidarstFerbrachebRich1620250080.0Rich10051200305.1
J GoughbRich4690066.67
+†S ShortbFrith2320066.67
T MintybDuke413160030.77
P Hortonrunout(Biggins)12111520109.09
P Blackburnnotout011000
Extras (b0, lb5, w6, nb3)14
Total (in 43.2 overs)195
Fall of wickets
1-30(Hague),2-69(P Gough),3-70(Jenner),4-130(Carlyon),5-171(Driver),6-175(Patidar),7-178(Short),8-178(J Gough),9-195(Minty),10-195(Horton)

 

PREVIEW
Jersey Post
‘Three new caps to face Sarnians in inter-insular’ by Andy Bradshaw

The side shows five changes from the team that were beaten by five wickets last year at Grainville with Jonny Gough, Tom Minty and county player Ryan Driver all winning their first caps this weekend. Old Victorian Ward Jenner has won a recall. Jenner came into form at exactly the right time having steered Jersey Over 40s to victory over the Guernsey counterparts at the KGV last Sunday following an undefeated 103.
[Ryan C Driver was born on 30th April 1979 in Truro, Cornwall and went on to represent Cornwall in 1996 and 1997, Worcestershire from 1998 to 2000 and Lancashire from 2001 to 2002. He played 25 first class matches scoring 686 runs, average 18.5, with a highest score of 64 and bowling 722 overs taking 14 wickets for 408 runs at an average of 29 with a best of 5 for 70. He also played in 22 one day matches scoring 273 runs with highest 61* and bowling 354 overs taking 2 wickets for 323 runs]

The 50 overs-a-side inter-insular has a bowling restriction of 10 overs per bowler for the first time.

Guernsey Press
‘Debuts for SA duo?’ by Gareth Le Prevost

Two uncapped South Africans are closing in on their first inter-insular appearances. The Optimists duo of GH Smit and Andre van Rooyen have both made Dave Hearse’s final 13 which will be whittled down to the starting XI after the opening round of KPMG CI Club Championship this weekend.
Van Rooyen has been involved with the island squad for some time and came close to be selected the last time Guernsey played Jersey at the KGV two years ago. Smit’s inclusion in the 13 is no surprise after a string of impressive and dominating performances with the bat.
However, Hearse is keeping his options open at this stage. ‘I more or less know my XI,’ said the island manager. ‘I have still got one slight doubt because I just want to make sure we get the balance of the side right. We do have different options depending on the conditions, both in the batting and the bowling.’ The management team have not ruled out the possibility of going into the inter-insular with three spinners and other aspects still open for debate are the batting order and who should open the bowling. But the versatility of the Guernsey squad is one of its major strengths, as was proved last year when, despite losing early wickets. the Sarnians eased to a comfortable victory. ‘Whoever the players selected are, those 11 will do a fine job,’ he said. ‘It is a good squad and all of them are in decent form at the moment.’
Guernsey squad: Andy Biggins (captain), Ami Banerjee, Tim Duke, Justin Ferbrache, Jeremy Frith, Stuart Le Prevost, Pierre Moody, Matt Oliver, Gary Rich, Aaron Scoones, GH Smit, Divan van den Heever, Andre van Rooyen. 12th man Stuart Bisson.

‘Smit gets the nod’ by Aaron Scoones
There were no surprises as Dave Hearse yesterday confirmed his starting XI for Saturday’s inter-insular at the King George V Field. As widely predicted he has decided to play hard-hitting batsman GH Smit instead of bowlers Pierre Moody and Aaron Scoones. Smit, in his first season on Guernsey, will make his inter-insular debut alongside fellow South African Andre van Rooyen, whose solid performances in Scotland and Sussex with the island side ensured his inclusion.
‘Smit has been a proven hitter this season,’ said Hearse. ‘Andre bowled well on tour and he is very fit and is one of our best fielders. Pierre didn’t make it because he hasn’t played enough cricket mainly through injury and the weather when he was fit. As for the rest of them, they are all in form and all have performed in the island games and I’m very pleased with the attitude of the squad as a whole. ‘I think I have picked the best-balanced team for the day.’ The team will be led out by captain Andy Biggins, who will form the backbone of the batting with Smit, Matt Oliver, Stuart Le Prevost, Jeremy Frith, Ami Banerjee and Tim Duke. The last three will also be called upon to bowl with Van Rooyen, Divan van den Heever and veteran off-spinner Gary Rich. Justin Ferbrache will don the ‘keeper’s gloves and Rovers’ Stuart Bisson will carry out the 12th man duties.

‘Frith on top form for inter-island meeting’ by Aaron Scoones
Jeremy Frith is certainly Mr Cricket. It becomes clear when speak to him that, given the chance, he would play every day for the rest of his life. In fact, it could be said that he already does as a full-time professional cricket coach and his dedication and enthusiasm have certainly been good news for the island squad this year. He has been on good form recently and was the shining light when Guernsey took its first steps into international cricket against Namibia and Bermuda at the end of June. The all-rounder top scored with 78 against the Africans and got 55 the next day when playing Bermuda. He bowled economically over the two days and took a number of tough catches close to the wicket. Without doubt the Hampshire man is Guernsey’s key player tomorrow when the old enemy are in town. ‘I’m looking forward to jersey,’ said Frith. ‘If you spend some time on the island it doesn’t take long to see what it [the inter-insular] means to other people. It doesn’t take long for it to mean something to you as well. ‘It always has a bit more spice than any other game and being involved in the development of cricket on the island, it doesn’t matter what age group, they want to beat them.’
The 27-year-old first came to the island in 2001. He is currently based just outside Southampton where his girlfriend, Guernsey hockey player Chantelle de la Mare, attends teacher training. This now sees him spend a lot of time commuting between the mainland and here to play and coach. The Cobo man came up through the age groups at Hampshire to feature in their second XI. He also had a stint with Gloucestershire’s second team.
As Guernsey has now been accepted into the ICC, he now has, along with the rest of the best players on the island, the opportunity to play the highest level of cricket possible. Frith is excited by Guernsey’s entry onto the international scene. ‘It’s been fantastic and it’s brilliant for Guernsey and the Channel Islands,’ he dais. ‘It was important for the ICC that we weren’t whitewashed and that we were competitive. Without a doubt we were competitive. We didn’t just play good cricket, we played really good cricket. The nicest thing is that one day wed could play an inter-insular match against Jersey in a World Cup or a high level ICC competition.’
Froth is full of praise for island manager Dave Hearse, who took over the reins before the 2003 season and the new technical director Jack Birkenshaw. The Guernsey Cricket Board employed the former England player and Leicestershire coach at the start of the season and his experience and knowledge have paid dividends for the island squad. ‘Jack is fantastic,’ said Frith. ‘He’s in a position where he can be objective as he’s more detached than everyone else – he’s got no loyalties to any clubs. He’s a great communicator and he understands the game from the top to bottom. Hearsy has done a good job since he came in when there weren’t any obvious choices to succeed Peter Vidamour. ‘I remember him walking around at an inter-insular before he was manager with his green beret on.’
So what about Saturday? ‘If we perform as well as we can, Jersey won’t get close to us,’ he said. ‘They’ll be competitive and up for it, but we’ve got a good, adaptable side that will deal with any situation. They will be capable, but I have deep faith in the 10 guys I’ll be walking onto the pitch with. We’ve put a lot of hard work in over the winter and the summer.’

‘We could be heroes’ by Gareth Le Prevost
Guernsey is on the verge of making history. Never before in the 48-years of the inter-insular have the Sarnians won four on the bounce. They have the chance to change that at KGV tomorrow and they could not have a more capable XI to do it.
Island manager Dave Hearse talked about the importance of balance in his side when making the final selection. Well, with this current crop of players, captain Andy Biggins has options coming out of his ears. The batting order is flexible and extremely strong, emphasised by the fact that Gary Rich, the scorer of what was, by all accounts, an excellent 61 in the CI Club Championship a week ago, in all probability come in at number 10.
The bowling has enormous variety from the quickest seamer in the islands through to two quality spinners. Everything seems to be in place. But there is nothing more that Jersey like than a challenge. The Caesareans are going through a transitional time at the moment with more and more talented youngsters being brought in to replace some of the old guard. A few of the regular names remain, though and combined with the new generation, Jersey should not be underestimated.
Turning the mind back 12 months when they were underdogs, as they will be tomorrow, Jersey had Guernsey in a spot of bother when they had half of their wickets with the Sarnians still not having half their required runs. The likes of Ward Jenner, Tony Carlyon and Paul Horton know how to win this game and will be desperate to do so again. But it is memories of last year that also build confidence. Stuart Le Prevost came in at seven that day. He later said he felt very relaxed because he knew that there was still plenty of batting to come. Of course, it was not needed as he and Jeremy Frith took Guernsey to victory and eased any nerves very quickly.
This time around, with the addition of GH Smit and Andre van Rooyen, there is a destructive nature to the batting line-up that surpasses the class of 2004. In that respect Guernsey have the upper hand. Meanwhile, the bowling attack is no weaker than that which dismissed Jersey for 145 at the last meeting. Jersey will undoubtedly be a strong fielding side as several people were quick to point out a week ago when their squad was announced. In this day and age, though, you cannot expect anything less and I defy anyone to call Biggins, Frith, Tim Duke and the three South Africans slouches. We are in line for another intense battle and, hopefully, a cracking game. This Guernsey team is on a mission to do what no other has managed before. Who am I to say they won’t?

MATCH
Jersey Post
‘Brilliant batting wins day for Guernsey’ by Andy Bradshaw

Jersey lost a fourth consecutive senior inter-insular match away to Guernsey at the KGV on Saturday.
Before an enthusiastic crowd of around 300 the Sarnians put on a breathtaking 284 for 7 wickets in their 50 overs to eventually win by 89 runs. The winning score is believed to be the highest made in the annual fixture but credit to Jersey for making a brave fight of it before finally falling away in the final 8 overs.
Skipper Matt Hague played with an attacking field but was let down by his bowlers who conceded 30 wides. But in truth it was about batting and the hosts were in tip-top form.

Guernsey Press
‘A record fourth win for greens’ by Gareth Le Prevost

Mission accomplished. Guernsey’s elite rewrote the record books on Saturday by winning their fourth successive inter-insular. The 89-run victory at the KGV was as impressive and convincing as it reads and satisfied skipper, Andy Biggins, described it as ‘the most comprehensive performance of the four.’ Everything went the captain’s way once he won the first toss of his tenure. His side proceeded to put a mammoth 284 on the board with the main contributions being fine half centuries from Matt Oliver and Jeremy Frith.
Later on, Stuart Le Prevost and the South African trio of GH Smit, Andre van Rooyen and particularly Divan van den Heever provided the acceleration that proved too much for Jersey. ‘We were always going to bat [if we won the toss]. We had a game plan whereby basically we wanted to let Stuart and the three South Africans loose with 35 overs gone,’ Biggins said. ‘We kept up the run-rate of around four and a half up, batted in partnerships and then went mad.’
In reply the visitors were bowled out for 195 with the two left-handers, Peter Gough (43) and Ryan Driver (56), being their outstanding batsmen. Frith finished with excellent figures of three for 36 while Tim Duke and Gary Rich both picked up two wickets apiece through quality spells of their own. Biggins paid tribute to those three as well as his wicketkeeper Justin Ferbrache, who passed a late fitness test. ‘It is easy to put the pressure on the opposition when you have got that many runs on the board. They could not afford to have bad overs and we could set the field back to stop the boundaries,’ said Biggins. ‘Tim Duke’s First spell was absolutely brilliant and the two spinners were par for the course – as good as usual.

Andy Biggins raises the Trophy aloft                     bbc.co.uk

The fielding was good in places and it showed we needed Justin to be fit because the stumping[of Meeku Patidar] was very sharp.’ Jersey’s chairman of selectors Dave Gorman, acknowledged that the acceleration at the end of the Guernsey innings proved vital. ‘You batted better than us and you took the game away from us when you got to 280. I did not think chasing a score of under 250 was going to be a problem but 280 was going to be a big score to get,’ he said. ‘Overall, Guernsey looked the part, they played a pretty professional game and there was a bit of gulf between the sides.’

Jubilant Guernsey side                     bbc.co.uk

REVIEW
Guernsey Press
‘Biggins’ players follow script to the letter’ by Gareth Le Prevost

It was as if Andy Biggins and Dave Hearse had sat down beforehand and written the script. All they needed was for their players to go out and perform it word for word and those players did not let their management down. At 10.30am as Biggins walked back to the pavilion having been out to the toss with Matt Hague, he could barely hide his delight that the Australian had called wrongly and, for once, the Guernsey skipper had the chance to do what he wanted. The foreword was complete and satisfactory.
The captain himself and Matt Oliver opened and gave their side a decent start with a stand worth 36 in little more than eight overs. The latter later admitted that he had seldom been as nervous walking out to bat, but when he launched Paul Horton over the infield for four in the second over he soon felt at ease. The Cobo man has not batted better all season and it was Horton who bore the brunt of it early on, being smacked for five boundaries before Hague asked him to take a rest after four overs.
At the other end, Ryan Driver produced a lively opening spell and, unsurprisingly, it was the former first-class cricketer who made the breakthrough as Biggins was caught at the wicket. Ami Banerjee fell foul to Driver, the fielder, 20 runs and six overs later, as the Jersey debutant took a sensational one-handed diving catch low to his left at a wide first slip position in Tony Carlyon’s second over. The next few overs were critical as Guernsey could not afford to lose another wicket just yet, even though the run-rate was ideal.
Frith and Oliver were not going to let that happen and from his first ball the all-rounder was finding the middle of his bat in the same fashion as his established partner. The clubmates kept the scoreboard ticking over nicely and Oliver reached a deserved half century with a pull for four behind square off Carlyon in the 21st over. He looked as if he could go on for a much bigger score but, as can so often be the case, he was undone by a rank full toss in Peter Gough’s first over that he could only manage to top edge to Peter Blackburn for a simple catch. A disappointing end to a job ell done.
Frith, though, was getting into his stride and it was almost going unnoticed how quickly and easily he was accumulating his runs. Another partner, Tim Duke, came and went, caught behind down the leg side after Driver’s re-introduction and 126 for four would have caused a few butterflies in the past. But with Stuart Le Prevost walking to the wicket and three quality South Africans still to come, there was no need to panic. The batsmen themselves certainly didn’t. Le Prevost gave a tough chance early on and made sure he cashed in on his luck once Driver’s 10 overs were completed. He and Frith both displayed a full array of shots, with their driving particularly impressive, and the latter brought up his 50 with a single from the 68th ball he faced.
Just as Tom Minty was finding out that there is seemingly nowhere that you can bowl to Le Prevost when he has his eye in, the Guernseyman went for an ambitious drive and was neatly caught by Hague running back from extra-cover. He had contributed 40 from 43 balls in a stand of 68. Frith maintained the acceleration before he eventually fell, toeing a pull shot to mid-wicket. He had faced 94 balls for his 80, hitting seven fours and a delightful straight six. ‘I knew we had people who can hit harder than me,’ he said later.
GH Smith soon followed for 14 but his countryman Divan van den Heever and Andre van Rooyen applied the coup de grace. Van den Heever smashed 27 from just 10 deliveries with two big sixes and his partner notched 13 from six, also hitting a maximum. The last two overs both cost Jersey 17 runs and when it seemed like they would be chasing under 260, to be staring at 284 on the board was a hammer blow.
Peter Gough, however, batted excellently at the start of the reply, cashing in on anything loose. He lost his captain, Hague, in the seventh over with Frith taking a sharp catch at slip off Banerjee, but the left-hander kept his momentum going and was in little trouble. However, one of his strengths led to his downfall when, attempting a second to fine leg, van Rooyen hit the stumps direct from distance and the second wicket was down. Jenner soon followed, bowled by Duke in a fine spell, and the visitors were now struggling at 70 for three. The big wicket though, was to be that of Driver, who looked a class act in easing his way to a half century. He and Carlyon added 60 before the latter was bowled by Frith and it was the man-of-the-match who accounted for the ex-professional. Driver’s eyes lit up at the sight of a short one but he didn’t quite middle his pull shot and Smit steadied himself out on the deep square boundary before safely pouching it.
That sparked a Jersey collapse which saw them lose their last six wickets for just 24 runs as Frith and Gary Rich turned the screw. Duke returned to dismiss Minty and then came the magnificent final chapter the very next ball. Blackburn pushed the ball into the covers, Horton tried to scamper through but was beaten by Biggins’ superb piece of work. A fitting end for a captain who still has a ‘perfect inter-insular record’.

‘Dennis acclaims wicket’ by Rob Batiste
The wicket used for this year’s inter-insular has been heralded by the beaten opposition. Jersey Cricket Board chairman Keith Dennis has called it ‘fantastic’ and paid tribute to the work of KGV groundsman Alan Hamilton. ‘I’ve been coming to Guernsey since 1973 and I’ve never seen a wicket like that in Guernsey. It was fantastic,’ said Dennis, who before residing in Jersey toured the island for many years with the MCC. ‘Alan Hamilton has done a superb job.’ Jersey captain Matt Hague praised the track too. ‘It was an excellent wicket, they batted very well and the ball was racing to the boundary every time it beat our field.’ Guernsey captain Andy Biggins said; ‘The tracks have been fantastic all season and it was obvious a great deal of pride went into the preparation for Saturday’s game. The KGV looked a picture.’