THE Guernsey Cricket Board have been given two regional awards by the International Cricket Council after having beaten off stiff competition from around Europe. Guernsey came out on top in the categories for best overall cricket development programme and best women’s cricket initiative, and will receive an ICC plaque in recognition of the achievement.

The GCB will now be put forward in these categories for the ICC Global Awards where they will face competition from the likes of Bermuda, Singapore and Japan.

Jersey will also feature at the event after winning two regional categories as well.

GCB chairman David Piesing said he was delighted that the island had won the awards given the strength of the competition and that they had a good chance of clinching the global prize.

‘I was confident that we would do well in it but I was not expecting us to win it,’ he said.

‘It’s obviously fantastic to be recognised as having a top development programme in comparison with other countries like Scotland, Ireland and Denmark.

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‘We knew that we were structuring things right over here in terms of the results we were getting on the development front.

‘It is difficult to say whether we will win the global prize. But Europe is just about the biggest region of all the associate members so if we are the best from one of the leading regions, clearly we must have a chance.’

Piesing was quick to praise the efforts of Jason Shambrook and his team of coaches who have helped develop the sport among the island’s children.

‘I think Jason and his team have taken the whole development concept to another level. They have been setting up partnerships with the schools to get children into the game in the first place.

‘We have been getting more girls into cricket through the schools. For example, this year we had the first-ever match between the Ladies’ College and Blanchelande, so it is initiatives like that which help to push the sport in those schools.

‘We’ve virtually got 100% penetration and a lot of our development efforts will now be to improve the quality of what we can offer.’

Shambrook was equally thrilled by the news and said that his main aim had been to make cricket accessible to people of all abilities.

‘To have the best overall cricket development programme is a fantastic achievement for Guernsey. Now we are going on into the world competition against the likes of Japan and Singapore.

‘It is crucial that the game is accessible to everybody. Getting competition from the mainland is also necessary for the development of some of these players, so our kids can get exposed to a higher standard of competition.

‘For me, the important thing for any sport is to get a good playing base. The fact that some of the kids may go on to play at county level is not the most important thing, it is allowing people to play at their level in sport.

‘I think the biggest thing for us is the indoor cricket centre, which should be built by the latter end of this year. That’s going to open us up to a completely different world and means that we can do more coaching and get more kids involved.’