JERSEY CRICKET is set to host round two of the ICC Men’s CWC Challenge League A, with games shared across Farmers Field and the National Cricket Centre at Grainville between 21-31 August, with the islanders hosting Kenya at Farmers Field in the first game on Thursday.
This ten-day cricketing showcase will be the second of three round-robin tournaments for both Challenge League Groups over a 2-year cycle. A top place finish for Jersey in Group A will move them one step closer to qualification for the 2027 ODI World Cup, to be hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Group A features hosts Jersey, alongside Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Kuwait, Qatar and Denmark, while Group B features Uganda, Italy, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Tanzania and Singapore.
The top two finishing sides from both groups will move on to face the bottom four sides from the Cricket World Cup League 2, for the ultimate prize of a spot at the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Jersey is making quite a name for itself in ICC tournaments of late. World Cup qualification, once a distant dream, now seems like a realistic option for Chuggy Perchard and his teammates.
Following their performance in the recent T20 World Cup qualifiers in Netherlands, where they missed out on their seat on the plane agonizingly by the barest of margins on net run rate, Director of Cricket Paul Hutchison and his squad have demonstrated their ascendence to one of the better associate nations out there.
A thrilling final ball victory over World Cup regulars Scotland at Voorburg Cricket Club last month proved not only the ability within the group, but the mindset instilled that they are not just attending these tournaments to make up the numbers.
The ICC Challenge League A sees a change of format from the 20 over back to the 50 over game.
Round 1 of Group A action took place across September and October back in 2024, hosted in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi. Jersey made a difficult start on that occasion, falling to a 6 wicket defeat to the hosts in game one, but rallied superbly to rattle off four consecutive victories thereafter.
Opponents Denmark, Kuwait, Papua New Guinea and Qatar were all swept aside, as both Jersey’s batting and bowling impressed, highlighted in particular with Zak Tribe’s maiden List A century against Qatar in game three and both Josh Lawrenson and Nick Greenwood claiming 5 wicket hauls.
Starting Thursday 21 August, Perchard and co kick off round two with a reverse of the opening fixture in Nairobi, where they will face the 4th placed Kenyans at Farmers Field, set for an 11am start.
Meanwhile, the second game of the day is set to take place at the National Cricket Centre at Grainville between Kuwait and Qatar, who sit 3rd and 6th in the table respectively.
Jersey’s most recent 50 over competitive fixture saw them dismantle their Channel Island rivals Guernsey in the annual inter insular clash recently, where young paceman George Richardson shone with a breakthrough 5 wicket haul to set up a resounding victory.
The abundance of talent amongst the Jersey squad is continuing to impress, with the majority of the squad competing in the UK and dominating Premier level club cricket, as well as the meteoric rise of professional Glamorgan batter Asa Tribe, who has taken to the professional game across all formats like a duck to water.
Tribe has been named in the 14-man squad, although coach Hutchison admits he may not be available for the whole tournament and says they are “working with Asa and Glamorgan to achieve the best outcome as possible for all.”
Aside from Tribe, names such as his brother Zak, Jonty Jenner, Julius Sumerauer, Harrison Carlyon, Nick Greenwood, Josh Lawrenson and Jake Dunford all bring top level UK and international pedigree, while younger players George Richardson, Charlie Brennan, Patrick Gouge, Dom Blampied and Will Perchard have all stamped their authority on their spaces in the squad.
Skipper Chuggy Perchard has been a main-stay of this squad for what feels like an eternity now, the experienced all-rounder having led Jersey from the front through so many of these types of tournaments. One final step for this young Jersey side would create history never before seen from an Island of a population of just over 100,000 people and create opportunities for this and the next generation of cricketing stars on island for years to come.
Thursday’s opponents Kenya offer Jersey one of their biggest threats to qualification, as the only side to have taken the spoils away from the Caesareans in round 1. Their strong bowling attack kept Jersey’s powerful batting line up to just 207 in Nairobi, dominated by a superb spell of 6 for 28 by Rakep Patel, who went on to score a brutal and unbeaten 84 in the chase.
Papua New Guinea also offer a serious threat, currently sat just behind Jersey in second place in the table. PNG dropped back down into the Challenge League in the last World Cup cycle after defeat and subsequent demotion at the hands of Canada.
Chuggy Perchard and his men will know that a win over the Kenyans in game one this week will set them well on their way to finishing top of Group A and earning their path out of this division and onto the next step on their Cricket World Cup qualification Journey.
Jersey Squad for Round 2 of the CWC Challenge League Group A
Chuggy Perchard (c), Dom Blampied, Charlie Brennan, Harrison Carlyon, Jake Dunford, Patrick Gouge, Nick Greenwood, Jonty Jenner, Josh Lawrenson, Will Perchard, George Richardson, Julius Sumerauer, Asa Tribe, Zak Tribe
