Channel Islands bid for ICC affiliation

Guernsey and Jersey are set to follow the lead of the Isle of Man and seek indiviudual membership of the ICC. They have previously competed in the ECB's 38-County competition as the Channel Islands, but are now seeking ICC Affiliate status after the 38-County tournament was changed to an Under-21 competition.

David Piesling, chairman of the Guernsey Cricket Board, said there were several reasons for seeking membership. "We want to provide more appropriate playing opportunities for players at every age group. The initial reason for joining the ECB was to access ECB competitions, and a combined CI team in the 38-county competition was a major carrot. Now it's an Under-21 competition, our top players have nowhere to go."

Piesling continued that although the two islands would forego ECB funding, officials were confident the move would be beneficial. "There are of course no guarantees of when we will secure associate-member status, and so we have taken a risk on that point, but it was a hurdle which we would have to cross at some stage and the longer that we left it, the more playing opportunities would be missed.

"Our playing standards are least on a par with Denmark and our playing facilities probably even better, both in Guernsey and in Jersey, and so we have to be confident that we will be admitted as associate members in due course ... providing much greater funding opportunities - significantly greater than in the ECB even before its recent cutbacks - so if we secure associate-member status then our development status within the ICC is enormous and limited only by our ability." The technicalities of exiting the ECB mean that the membership applications for Guersney and Jersey will be heard in June 2005.

Meanwhile, both will compete against the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight in the biennial Four Islands tournament in August. Should Guernsey join France, Germany and Italy in gaining ICC associate membership, they will have come full circle, as they hosted the first European tournament in 1980.

Central America will have its own regional championships in the next 18 months if the ICC's regional development officer Grant Dugmore has his way. Dugmore hopes Mexico, Belize, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica and possibly El Salvador will participate. The standard ICC eligiblity rules would be cast aside in a tournament which would run on the same informal lines as the South American Championships.

Bulgarian CC are their country's first national champions after winning the inaugural national titles on June 5-6. Medical University (Sofia) gained early favouritism for the title, after finishing unbeaten in the four-team round-robin ahead of Bulgarian CC, National Sports Academy (Sofia) and Varna Technical University.

It was as though Twenty20 had come to Sofia as the tournament was a run-feast, with the teams averaging around 15 an over in the round-robin matches. The final was a gripping affair: Medical University reached 174 for 2 from their allotted 20 overs, a low score for the weekend. Bulgarian Cricket Federation official Saif-ur-Rehman led the Bulgarian CC assault, hitting five sixes and three fours in top-scoring with 62.

After his dismissal, wickets tumbled until two runs were required from the final ball. A muted crowd saw the No. 11 hit over a cordon of close fielders to give Bulgarian CC the title of first national champions. Following the tournament, a preliminary 30-man squad - to be trimmed to 13 - was chosen to represent Bulgaria at the European representative festival in August. The competition, which will also feature Slovenia (the hosts), Croatia, Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland, includes a blend of prospective members and affiliates.

Sierra Leone's West African triumph
Sierra Leone have won their fourth West African Championships, after a thrilling one-wicket last-over win in the second and deciding match of the tournament, played earlier this month on a cement pitch which provided plenty of bounce. Sierra Leone opened their account positively on the first day by beating The Gambia, the hosts, by 75 runs.

In the crucial second match, their last pair saw them home, overtaking defending champions Ghana (170 for 9) with just two balls remaining to effectively secure the title. On the third day, Ghana hit 245 for 9, the tournament's highest total, to beat The Gambia by 83 runs.

Curiously, while Nigerian officials were invited to a West African development seminar held the day after the championships, their national team was left out of the event entirely. Morocco, the intended replacements for Nigeria, were banned from leaving their country until all squad members gained employment, after their national handball colleagues went missing on a recent tour of Europe. Officials from Mali and Senegal were also included in the seminar.

Erratum
In the "Did We Really Say That?" department, it's apologies to the Shanghai Allied Pickford Pearls ladies' team who, in their first outdoor game, beat the more experienced Hong Kong ladies team. BTTW credited Hong Kong with the win. Congratulations to the Pearls in what we hope is the first of many victories.