Super‌ ‌action‌ ‌in‌ ‌Jersey‌ ‌before‌ ‌the‌ ‌Super‌ ‌Series‌ ‌

All will be to play for during the next set of Jersey Post Weekend League fixtures following a high scoring tie between the teams at the top of the table.

Before the start of play, the Farmers Caesareans and the Old Victorians were separated by a single point meaning that the encounter which took place at FB Fields could have effectively decided the title. However, the teams could not be separated at the end of the 40 over a side contest. 

During the first innings, the Farmers Caesareans scored an impressive 274-8 from their allocation. On-lookers may have thought that after their impressive performance with the bat, and then taking a couple of early wickets during the Old Victorians’ chase, that the match was heading to a one-sided conclusion.

However, the strength and quality of the island’s domestic system really came through during the game and momentum swung in the way of the Old Victorians. Two of the Old Victorians international stars, Corey Bisson (77) and Jonty Jenner (70), batted fantastically and meant that the game came down to the last over.

The final over was to be bowled by Jersey national team captain Chuggy Perchard, and was set the task of defending eighteen runs. Perchard bowled to Matt Donaldson and the equation quickly became 6 off 4 balls as the batsman hit back-to-back sixes down the ground. The next three balls consisted of a well-run two and two singles meaning that the Old Victorians required two runs off the final ball with Donaldson back on strike. Donaldson played an attempted reverse sweep, an audacious shot in the circumstances, and may not have timed it as well as he wanted, but was able to scramble a single. The game that was a great insight into Jersey’s domestic cricket season, as both teams finished on 274. 

Along with the exciting action coming from the Jersey Post Weekend, the inaugural Fairway Super Series draft was recently completed, with the mentors picking the players to represent their team.

The junior focussed tournament consists of four teams, who will all be representing a charity during the tournament. Prior to the draft, each team’s player mentor and captains were announced with the draft taking place on the 7th September. Now that each squad has been announced, there is the opportunity to provide a deeper insight into the squads. 

Every Child Eagles

Squad: Jack Stevens (c), Barney Aston, Freddie Bastin, James Bradbury, Beau Gurner, Lewis Ham Howes, Will Hodgson, Toby Marett, Analise Merritt, Eddie Rothwell, Oli Walker, Mathew Webb,        

The Every Child Eagles will be raising awareness of the charity ‘Every Child Our Future’. The charity aims to ‘enable 95% of the children in Jersey to reach their age-related standards in literacy and numeracy at key stage 2 by providing early intervention in Key stage 1 and 2’. 

Prior to the commencement of the draft, it was announced that Corey Bisson would be the mentor of the Every Child Eagles side and Jack Stevens would be captaining the side. Bisson, having made his international debut for Jersey in 2011, has been an ever-present figure in the national team. The players in the Eagles squad will be able to lean on Bisson’s international experience during the tournament and learn how to deal with match pressures. Alongside this, the up and coming batting talent within the team has the opportunity to learn from Bisson, who finished the tournament’s top run-scorer during Jersey’s 2016 World Cricket League division four campaign.

The team’s captain, Jack Stevens, has previous leadership experience as he captained the Jersey U13 performance squad. Recently, Stevens made his second team debut and impressed with both bat and ball; there is hope that Stevens will be able to use his momentum to help the team during the tournament. According to the preview written on the Fairway Super Series Facebook page, the Eagles strength is their batting depth. Bisson has built a squad that has the potential to have ‘accomplished batters coming in at number 7 or 8’.

The Shelter Trust Titans 

Squad: Chloe Greechan (c), Adam Bradbury, Toby Britton, Josh Douglas, Jayden Hosty, Jack Kemp, Jacob Lynton Jones, Sam Patidar, Oliver Pryke, Theo Pullman, Will Read  

Shelter Trust provides accommodation, food support/encouragement for around 100 members of Jersey’s homeless community across four sights per night. The charity has been running for over 25 years and is now the leading provider of support services to the country’s homeless community.

The Titians’ squad will benefit from the mentorship of Elliot Miles who made his international debut during the World Cricket League Division 4 in Los Angeles. Miles, since his initial three wickets on debut, has gone on to become a regular feature for Jersey’s side. During 14 T20I matches, Miles has taken 17 wickets at an average of 15.64, but arguably what is more impressive are the bowlers’ economy rates. Miles boasts a fantastic T20 economy of 6.65 and an arguably even more impressive List A economy of 3.67.  

The side will be captained by Jersey’s Women’s team captain Chloe Greechan. Greechan was appointed the captain of the national side in 2020 and has been representing Jersey since the age of 13. During the Jersey Women’s team recent series of matches against Ireland’s Northern Knights, Greechan showed her talent when she took Jersey Women’s the best ever figures (4-25) and top-scored with 36.

The team has a fantastic array of both seam and spin bowling, and possess a bowling unit that will challenge the other team’s resilience with the bat.    

BSK Bandits

Squad: Charlie Brennan (c), Drew Boylan, Sonny Cassidy, Maria Da Rocha, Sam Hunter, Louis Kelly, Harry Queripel, James Thornton, Matt Thornton, Casey Thubron, Jack Vowden, Sam Watling 

The BSK Bandits are representing the Beresford Street Kitchen. The Beresford Street Kitchen provides workplace opportunities for people with ‘widely ranging skills and life experiences’. A major part of the organisation’s work is providing opportunities to individuals with learning disabilities and autism. These individuals are often not given workplace or societal exposure, so the charity aims at creating a safe and supporting environment for these individuals to develop as individuals, gain workplace skills and gain confidence. 

The players involved with the BSK Bandits will have the opportunity to work with one of Jersey’s most recognizable sports players in Jonty Jenner. Jenner made his debut during the 2015 T20 World Cup qualifier, where he finished as the tournaments fourth-highest run-scorer. Since this initial point, Jenner has gone on to cement his place as one of Jersey’s premium talents.

The Bandits will be captained by another impressive young talent in the form of Charlie Brennan. Brennan has been involved with Jersey’s cricket performance programme since the age of 10, and has been making his mark on senior cricket having made his first-team debut at the age of 14.

The team has plenty of exciting top-order batsman, which promises to bring the team plenty of runs and have a large number of fast bowling resources.    

Lord’s Taveners Lightning

Squad: Charlie Miles (c), Charlie Best, Ethan Carroll, Zac Cloete, John Cousins, Lily Greig, Ben Heelis, Damon Huckerby, Archie McKeon, Trinity Smith, Toby Thirkettle, Ali Webster, Alex Wood

The Lord’s Taverners is a charity that brings cricket to young people. Initially, the focus of the charity was to provide equipment and kit to local clubs and schools and growing women’s cricket, however, the charity has been able to expand its services. The charity, in 2010, re-centred it’s attention towards providing opportunities for disabled people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to participate in cricket-based activities.  

The lightning’s mentor holds the record for being Jersey’s youngest every debutant; Harrison Carlyon made his debut at the age of 15 in a fixture against Oman during the 2016 World Cricket League Division 4. Carlyon currently has a List A batting average of 30.33 and looks to have a fantastic future for Jersey. 

The team will be captained by Jersey Women’s vice-captain Charlie Miles, who has returned to the sport after a break. Miles has returned to the sport during an exciting period for Jersey’s women’s team as the team look to establish themselves as a competitive team having been granted official T20I status along with all the Associate members. Miles has previously impressed for the national team as she impressed during the women’s team game against Guernsey where she opened the batting and top-scored with 40.       

The tournament provides a great opportunity for Jersey’s exciting young talents to gain competitive experience against each other and make a name for themselves. There will be plenty of exciting action, with the opportunity for players to learn a lot from their mentors whilst learning about the work that a charity does in the local area. 

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