Jersey’s hosting of the ICC Challenge League A tournament over the past 10 days has proved a resounding success for both the national side and the grounds hosting.
Following the opening round of competition last year in Nairobi, Kenya where Jersey sat atop the division from their first five games, captain Chuggy Perchard and his team have extended their stranglehold, remaining at the summit after an undefeated 10 days on home soil.
Facing opponents Kenya, Kuwait, Papua New Guinea, Denmark and Qatar, Jersey shone throughout to record four wins and one tie, putting them now on 17 points, three ahead of second placed Kuwait.
An opening day fixture against Kenya saw a comprehensive 7 wicket victory. Spinners Josh Lawrenson and Nick Greenwood starred with 4 and 3 wickets apiece, before Jonty Jenner and Zak Tribe saw the team home with an excellent unbeaten century partnership.
Game two against Kuwait was a genuine thriller, which ended in a remarkable tie. After restricting Kuwait to just 223 with another excellent bowling performance by Josh Lawrenson, Harrison Carlyon led the reply with 77, but Jersey somehow stumbled over the line from a winning position, with Zak Tribe’s run out off the final delivery leaving the scores tied at 223 each.
As Bank Holiday Monday came around, Jersey hit back from the Kuwait disappointment by posting a giant 348 for 3 against Denmark, which included stunning centuries by both Nick Greenwood (107) and Josh Lawrenson (139), his highest List A score.
The Danes never looked in the hunt, as the spinners of Lawrenson, Greenwood and Dom Blampied again shone to bowl them out for 259, an 89 run victory.
The Papua New Guinea game saw the return of Jersey’s professional Glamorgan CCC star, Asa tribe, who didn’t fail to entertain his home crowd at Farmers Field.
The PNG attack ripped through the Jersey top order, but Tribe rose above the pack, scoring a memorable 175 from 156 deliveries out of a team score of 261, his third successive list A century and his own and Jersey cricket’s highest ever List A score.
Bowlers shared the wickets around, as Harrison Carlyon, Julius Sumerauer, George Richardson, Dom Blampied and Nick Greenwood each picked up 2 wickets to bowl PNG out for just 101.
The final game of the tournament was a clinical showing, beating Qatar by 8 wickets at Grainville on Saturday, Lawrenson earning his third player of the match award of the tournament for his 4 for 25 with the ball as Jersey rolled Qatar for just 132.
The chase was dusted in double quick time, as both Harrison Carlyon (55) and Asa Tribe (53*) reached half centuries to see their side home inside 19 overs.
Jersey will now head into the 2026 third and final tournament of this Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament in an excellent position to progress.
A top two finish for Jersey would mean they would earn a shot at the bottom two finishers of the Challenge League 2 above them, for their spot in the big leagues, ahead of the 2027 Cricket World Cup set to be hosted in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
