"Everyone wants to be the next Archer, Bairstow, Roy"

Monday 22 July 2019

England's phenomenal success in the 2019 Cricket World Cup is inspiring local cricketers and has seen the GCB receive interest from under 9s through to ladies.

The England national team struggled through the early stages of the competition before going on a winning spree that saw them capture the world title with a dramatic 'super-over' victory.

The Guernsey Cricket Board's Cricket Development Manager Ben Ferbrache said the final, which was broadcast on free-to-air TV,  was a "fantastic advert for the game".

"It literally had everything. Until that game a One Day International has never been settled by a super over. So many people have asked me if I watched the cricket on Sunday as they found it fascinating and these are people who would ordinarily not watch the game, which is brilliant.

"We have seen an interest this week - I have had several enquiries about playing cricket from under 9s through to ladies cricket."

Ben Ferbrache played county cricket with Archer, right, who bowled the winning ball in the World Cup. (Nick Potts/PA)

In addition to attracting new interest, the result served as inspiration to players currently in the local setup. 

"Everyone is talking about it and how they want to be the next Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow or Jofra Archer when they are at training which is brilliant," said Mr Ferbrache. "It does show exactly what can be achieved - four years ago I was playing club cricket in the Sussex Premier League with Jofra Archer and now he's bowling the super over and winning the World Cup with England."

With children now broken up for the summer holidays, Mr Ferbrache said there were plenty of opportunities for youngsters at all levels to get involved in cricket courses.

"We are currently taking bookings for all sorts of levels of cricket in our cricket week between the 12 -16 August. We are offering Tot's cricket (Ages 2-5), Ravenscroft Future Stars (Ages 5-10), Junior Masterclass (Ages 11-13) and Development Masterclass (Age 14+).

"Obviously we would love for more numbers to get involved in cricket and will endeavour to offer whatever cricket people would like."

For more information on these courses, visit https://www.guernseycricket.com/school-holiday-courses.

Pictured top: England celebrate winning the World Cup.