The squads for the European T20 World Cup Regional Finals to be hosted in Guernsey from the 13th to the 21st of June have all now been released.
Jersey, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Germany and hosts Guernsey will compete in the tournament which will be providing one qualification spot into the global T20 world cup qualifiers held later in the year in the UAE. All matches will carry official T20 international status with results counting towards the now-global team rankings.
Denmark
Hamid Mazhar Shah (C), Omar Hayat, Taranjit Singh Bharaj, Oliver Damgaard Hald, Anique Uddin, Rizwan Tariq Mahmood, Jino Jojo, Nicolaj Damgaard Lægsgaard, Anders Bülow, Saif Ahmad, Zishan Shah, Bashir Shah, Abdul Wahab Hashmi (WK), Delawar Khan
Denmark looks a side boasting the best form coming into the tournament playing off in the World Cricket League Division Three in late 2018. Despite a lowly 1-5 record, a surprise win against Kenya shows that the Danes have what it takes at the level. Look for captain Hamid Shah to star at the tournament. Shah was the leading run scorer at the Division Three tournament averaging 60. He will look to be the figure at the top of the order Denmark needs if they are to take out the finals. With the ball watch for Saif Ahmad the off spinner. He finished second best wicket taker at the Oman-hosted WCL3 and will look to play a more important role in the T20 format.
Germany:
Venkatraman Ganesan (C), Daniel Weston (WK), Muslim Yar Ashraf, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Amir Khan Mangal, Asad Mohammad, Mudassar Muhammad, Vijayshankar Bangalore Chikkannaiah, Harmonjot Singh, Hamid Ahmed Wardak, Rishi Pillai, Oliver Rayner, Craig Meschede, Dieter Klein
Germany have been boosted going into the tournament by the addition of experienced county cricket campaigners Ollie Rayner, Dieter Klein and Craig Meschede. In the three the Germans have a solid base to stake their claims as potential favourites for the tournament. Germanys bowling unit will be feared by all teams heading into the finals with Klein and former Afghan representative Izatullah Dawlatzail forming a deadly opening bowling duo with Rayner’s off spin also adding to the German bowling strength. Germany’s batting was put to question in the recent T20 series against Italy bowled out 53 by the Italians in the final game of the two match series, albeit without their UK-based players. Meschede will give the Germans a figure at the top of the order to build around.
Guernsey:
Joshua Butler (C), Ashley Wright, Ben Ferbrache, Lucas Barker, Oliver Newey (WK), Jordan Martel, Thomas Veillard, Thomas Kimber, Matthew Stokes, William Peatfield, Luke Le Tissier, David Hooper, Nicholas Buckle, Anthony Stokes
A young team to the scene of world cricket and a young team on the track as well. Guernsey will be buoyed by home ground advantage at these European World Cup Qualifiers. For Guernsey, captain Josh Butler and Matthew Stokes will figure as the main batting stalwarts for the island nation batting at three and four respectively. With both playing important roles for Guernsey in their recent T20I series against Jersey. Luke Le Tissier’s off spin will play a vital role with the ball in the tournament. Going at a lowly 5.6 including a spell of 2-18 in the first match of the inter-insular recent series.
Italy:
Shan Munasinghe (C), Joy Perera, Rakibul Hasan, Nick Maiolo, JP Meade, Gareth Berg, Rehman Abdul, Shameera Kuruppu, Michael Ross, Simranjit Singh, Baljit Singh, Charanjeet Singh, Jasspreet Singh, Manpreet Singh (WK)
Like Germany, Italy will be donning some county flavour in their lineup this year in the form of Gareth Berg which will be a massive inclusion for the Italians. The all rounder will offer both with the bat and the ball for Italy as he has throughout his county career and automatically makes Italy a team to watch. Alongside Berg, look for batsmen Joy Perera to thrive in the T20 environment as he will likely open the batting for the Azzurri. With the ball captain Shan Munasinghe will look to be the strike weapon for the Italians. Italy carries some form into the tournament with two good wins against Germany in a T20 series played in May, form they will look to take into the tournament no doubt.
Jersey:
Charles Perchard (C), Corey Bisson, Dom Blampied, Harrison Carlyon, Jake Dunford (WK), Nick Ferraby, Anthony Hawkins-Kay, Jonty Jenner, Elliot Miles, Rhys Palmer, Will Robertson, Ben Stevens, Julius Sumerauer, Ben Ward
Jersey will take a lot of confidence into the qualifiers after a 3-0 sweep of their warm up T20 series against Guernsey. A series that not only will give Jersey confidence but a good look at what to expect from the wickets in Guernsey throughout the series. For Jersey the key player in the lineup will be Ben Stevens, the all rounder finished second in both run scoring and wicket taking during the Division Four World Cricket League in 2018. Stevens batting at first drop and bowling his off spin will look to take Jersey to victory at the competition as he did at the Division Four titles in 2018.
Norway:
Raza Iqbal (C), Khizer Ahmed (WK), Waqas Ahmed, Prithvi Bhart, Walid Ghauri, Henry Glanfield, Ansar Iqbal, Javed Maroofkhail, Faizan Mumtaz, Hayatullah Niazi, Abdullah Sheikh, Junaid Sheikh, Ali Tafseer, Ehtsham Ul Haq
Arguably the less experienced side at these qualifiers Norway will be looking to use their underdog mantra to stun some times at the competition. Norway finished top of the table and undefeated in their qualifying group for this tournament and play a confident brand of cricket. For Norway the key man will be captain Raza Iqbal. Iqbal led Norway for both runs and wickets at the 2018 qualifiying tournament taking 9 wickets as well as 132 runs in the five match tournament. Iqbal will open the batting for the Norweigans and bowl crucial middle over spells with his off spin.
Every match from the qualifiers will be live streamed on the ICC’s Facebook and YouTube channels.
