JERSEY’S national men’s cricket team have taken another giant leap towards World Cup qualification, as their 52-run victory over Denmark on Saturday secured them top spot after round one of the ICC CWC Challenge League A.
Challenge League A offered up some extraordinary results in this tournament, with seemingly all teams being able to beat any other on any given day.
Jersey performed superbly to put themselves in a commanding league position, especially after an opening-day defeat to hosts, Kenya.
But they fought back to claim four consecutive comprehensive victories over Qatar, Papua New Guinea, Kuwait and Denmark.
Jersey captain Chuggy Perchard said after the Denmark win: “We were made to work pretty hard for this one.
“After losing the toss and them getting off to a good start with the ball, we had to show some character out there, but we stepped up brilliantly.
“Both Harrison [Carlyon] and Josh [Lawrenson] had to work really hard for their runs early doors, but they’ve been fantastic for us this whole tournament and I was really pleased for Josh to go on and get 93, he deserved a hundred.
“Once the track flattened out a bit, both Asa and Zak Tribe were sensational again, I think this has been a real breakthrough tournament for Zak, he’s just been brilliant on these wickets.”
After the departure of Carlyon for 59 and Lawrenson for an outstanding 93, a touch of kamikaze cricket came in for the Caesareans, with several run outs coming in quick succession.
However, Tribe remained to finish 65 not out off just 42 deliveries, taking ten crucial runs off the final two balls of the innings, including a monstrous strike for six back over the bowlers head off the final delivery, arguably the biggest of the tournament.
“We thought 283 was actually slightly above par on that track,” continued skipper Perchard.
“The Danes got off to a good start though with the bat and put us under pressure early.
“Once again, our spinners stepped up superbly. Considering some of them are not necessarily front-line bowlers, they have controlled the ball so well for us all tournament and this game was no different.
“It was a convincing display all round I thought, and also a special shout out in this game must go to Stan Norman making his tournament debut opening the batting.
“We’re now top of the league after round one and I think we thoroughly deserve to be.
“We’ve played some excellent cricket this week and this squad is still so young, we have a lot more developing to do which is really exciting.
“A few of the boys are now off to Australia and New Zealand for their respective cricket seasons to continue their development, which is great all round for Jersey cricket.
“Rumours are that next August, round two of this league will be hosted in Jersey, which would obviously be amazing.
“We can go back to the drawing board now, plan our next moves and prepare to hit that second round of the tournament hard and put some distance between ourselves and the rest of the pack.”
Jersey Squad: Chuggy Perchard (c), Harrison Carlyon, Stanley Norman, Josh Lawrenson, Asa Tribe, Zak Tribe, Jonty Jenner, Charlie Brennan, Julius Sumerauer, Jake Dunford, Daniel Birrell, Will Perchard, Patrick Gouge
