CHUGGY Perchard lifted the Men’s 50 Over inter-insular trophy for the ninth consecutive year on Saturday at NCC Grainville as Jersey extended their “unprecedented” run of success over Guernsey across 50 Over and T20s that spans more than a decade.
When Guernsey captain Ollie Nightingale shook Perchard’s hand last September after Jersey claimed the T20 Inter Insular Tri-Series 2-1 in a dramatic finale at Grainville, he said – through gritted teeth in a semi-joking tone – he was pretty fed up of being on the losing side.
If those words plucked at any Jersey heartstrings however, those thoughts were firmly bottled on Saturday. Caesarean spinners ran riot on a turning deck at Grainville, before player-of-the-match Ben Ward smashed an unbeaten 82 to guide his side to a five-wicket victory.
“We’re absolutely delighted to land another win,” said Perchard.
“It’s been over a decade now since Guernsey won the inter-insular, whether that be 50 Over or T20, which is a terrific achievement.”
The NCC at Grainville was once again in splendid condition, a remarkable feat considering the weather we have seen this summer – full credit must go to the groundstaff of Dan Birrell and Pete Gough.
With bright sunshine baking down on another well-prepared wicket, Perchard opted to bowl first.
“We won the toss and, with it being a 10.30am start in September, both Ollie [Nightingale] and I agreed it was a no-brainer to bowl first,” said Jersey’s veteran skipper.
“The wicket was actually very dry,” he continued. “The seamers initially struggled a bit early to get anything out of it.”
This was evident in both Jersey openers Birrell and George Richardson sharing just five overs with the new ball between them.
Perchard continued: “Guernsey got off to a bit of a flyer to be honest, although we didn’t bowl particularly well early on.
“It was our spinners who proved key, they did a fantastic job at restricting them. The wicket was good for them and our trio were superb.”
Seamer Scott Van Breda provided an excellent five-over spell which saw him take the two crucial scalps of opener Josh Butler bowled for 12, then dangerman Matt Stokes fr 42.
However, that aforementioned trio of off-spinner Harrison Carlyon, leg-spinner Ben Ward and left-arm orthodox Toby Britton did the bulk of the heavy lifting.
Carlyon proved the pick, claiming 4 for 20 from 9.4 overs, which included three caught and bowled and featured 58 deliveries of unwavering pressure on the batters’ stumps.
Britton was traditionally metronomic, holding an end beautifully to take 1 for 31 from his ten overs.
Meanwhile Ward’s leg-spin, arguably the most difficult discipline in the game, has been a real USP for this side for several years and has earned him the affectionate nickname “magician”.
Ward picked up two himself for just 24 runs, which included two maidens in his ten overs.
Perchard, who himself picked up the wicket of stubborn opener Lucas Barker for 37, continued: “That combination of relentless accuracy from the spinners supported by some excellent inner ring fielding kept the pressure on throughout. To restrict them to just 161 was a good effort.
“Even though the wicket was spinning, we felt they were definitely under par, there were no demons in it.”
Where the Jersey seamers struggled however, the Sarnian seamers showed the way.
In the absence of Nick Greenwood, Patrick Gouge was joined atop the order by Stan Norman, with Carlyon dropping down to three and Zak Tribe at four.
All four men have had outstanding seasons to date, but an opening combination of Matt Stokes, Luke Bichard and young speedster Charlie Forshaw left the top order reeling.
Gouge was trapped in front by Bichard for 3, Norman following in the same fashion from Stokes for 2 and when Tribe saw his stumped disturbed by Forshaw, Jersey were wobbling at 21 for 3.
With regular number five Jonty Jenner unavailable, Perchard explained the decision to move Ward up the order.
“Wardy was really keen to accept that responsibility,” he said. “For someone who usually bats down at 7/8 for us, we were really pleased to see that confidence from him.
“For him to then go on and play in the brilliant way he did and also to be there not out at the end proves the class of the man.” Carlyon eventually fell for an important 31 from 58 balls.
Ward continued however, combining first with Charlie Brennan (14) before Van Breda proved the man to stay with him.
Ward was appropriately named player of the match, finishing 82 not out from 86 balls.
His excellent innings included 13 boundaries and came at a strike rate of 95.35, on a day where almost all others struggled to score above 60.
In a harrowing conclusion for any Guernsey readers, Perchard claimed that “we’re only getting better.”
Jersey: Charles Perchard (c), Charlie Brennan, George Richardson, Daniel Birrell, Ben Ward, Scott Van Breda, Patrick Gouge (wk), Toby Britton, Zak Tribe, Harrison Carlyon, Stan Norman, Luke Bosio, Theo Pullman
Guernsey: Ollie Nightingale (c), Lucas Barker, Luke Bichard, Alex Bushell (wk), Josh Butler, Charlie Forshaw, Freddie Forshaw, Harry Johnson, Luke Le Tissier, Adam Martel, Ed Robinson, Matt Stokes, Marcus Thomas
