Mark Latter, CEO of Guernsey Cricket said “we are delighted that Rovers have been so keen to accomodate the GPL this year. The facilities at Port Soif are first class for players and spectators alike.”

There will be family fun stalls at Port Soif throughout the event. Food and drink, great location next to the beach, picnic areas and all the live action tv sport available to watch in the clubhouse.

All are welcome along down to “The Soif” to enjoy GPL season 2.

Directions to Port Soif can be found here.

Nottinghamshire County Cricket club are one of the best teams in the professional game. Having been County Champions in 2010, they topped their t20 group last season, falling in the quarter finals.

To view their squad click here.

Weather – Sunny

Location KGV

Toss won by Mourant Ozannes who elected to bat.

Result – Mourant Ozannes won by 21 runs

See scorecard

Mourant Ozannes became the GPL1 champions on Saturday 25th June, with a comprehensive 21 run victory over BDO. Led by Captain Lee Savident, Mourant Ozannes, who only booked their place in the final the day before with a victory over Cenkos Centurions, came into the match with a record of 1 win and 1 defeat against BDO from the group games, but were very confident after winning the toss and electing to bat.

Chris Van Vliet was given the opening over from the Blanc Bois end at the KGV, with a large crowd engaged from the first ball. It turned out to be an inspired move as the BDO team and fans celebrated the wicket of Mourant Ozannes danger man Justin Meades off the last ball of the over. It got even better in the fourth over as James Kirtley, former professional from Sussex, sent Ross Kneller off the Island Games early for only 2, leaving Mourant Ozannes on 13 for 2 after four overs.

Lee Savident was joined by Sussex professional Will Beer at the crease to see whether they could rebuild the Mourant Ozannes innings that was hanging by a thread with a quarter of their overs already gone. After the match, Savident said;

“I think the turning point was the patnership between myself and Will [Beer]. We started by saying lets get the run rate up to 6 an over and look to push on from there.”

And that’s exactly what the pair did.

They batted together for 13 overs, taking the score to 124 for 3 in the 18th over, when Savident fell for 59 to a fast yorker from James Kirtley, who was by this time running in and bowling a ferocious spell. When Beer was caught behind by Tom Kimber off James Kirtley in the final over with 74 to his name, there were just three balls left from the 20 overs. Both teams walked off the field at the half way stage reasonably happy with Mourant Ozannes finishing on 146 for 6.

James Kirtley, who ended with bowling figures of 5 wickets for 21 runs, walked out with Ollie Newey to open the batting for BDO, needing just over 7 runs an over the bring the trophy back to the BDO camp. And they started steadily, putting on 40 together at a run a ball, before Newey was caught by Will Beer off the bowling of Stuart Bisson. The wicket brought BDO captain Stuart Le Prevost to the crease. Le Prevost has been the star of the show with the bat for BDO, averaging almost 50 through the tournament, and so needing only 107 more runs from another 84 balls BDO were in a comfortable position. Kirtley took his score to 52 before the ever improving left arm spinner Max Ellis got one to find the top edge from a slog sweep, and Will Beer took the catch on the deep midwicket boundary.

Even with the fall of Kirtley, BDO were handily placed at 80 for 2 at the end of the 12th over, Mourant Ozannes were 70 for 2 at the same stage in their innings. However it was from now that Mourant Ozannes started to turn the screw with some excellent bowling. At the outset of the competition Savident spoke about his team by saying “I am confident we have the most balanced and best all round bowling attack of all the teams.” And so it proved, with the next 5 overs only going for 24 runs, as BDO struggled to deal with the leg spin of Will Beer and the left armer Ellis.

The run rate continued to go up, and BDO captain could not find himself on strike enough to try and counter act it with his style of big hitting. When Le Prevost fell in the final over of the game BDO were still 21 runs behind Mourant Ozannes and destined for defeat.

The final ball brought scenes of celebration on and off the field for those supporting the aubergine coloured Mourant Ozannes team, who had put in a clinical, if not spectacular performance to win the big game and become GPL champions for the first time. Asked if he had any more comments once he had received the winner’s trophy, Savident just raised the trophy, smiled, and said “Enough said!”

Come and see the action at the KGV from 5:30 Friday 24th June.

The second Saturday of the Clydesdale Bank International Guernsey Premier League Cricket, featured all the teams in a competitive round of matches.

By the end of the BDO sat proudly at the top of the table, with Wave Warriors facing the prospect of a plate appearance, having lost all 4 games.

Check out the video here >>

Before all this banter though, we got to see what the GPL was really all about. Mourant Ozannes professional, Paul Franks called the team in after an energetic 10 minutes fielding drill and the first question he asked was “what did we learn from last week?”

And that sums up the GPL – all the hard work that is going in to Guernsey Cricket so our best players can learn more. They get experience not only of playing with and against top professionals, but also seeing how they think about the game of cricket. The learning imparted on some of Guernsey’s best young cricket talent, just by getting them to self-reflect on how they thought the games went last week already makes the GPL worthwhile for the players and people who put it on.

Now all we need is some bigger crowds!

Enjoy the video clip by clicking here >> Captain Lee Savident speaks out

The canary yellow doesn’t go too well with the red barnet, but the Cenkos number 10 is an invaluable member of the Centurions team.

Shooting Hoops

Free entry at the KGV – bring the whole family and enjoy the evening.