The 2007 winner and 2008 nominee for CI Sports Personality of the Year, Bath rugby and England Saxons star Matt Banahan. (0528626)

THE two men with overall responsibility for driving sport forward in the two main Channel Islands have acclaimed the standards shown by this year’s shortlist for the Sportingbet CI Sports Personality of the Year.

Guernsey’s sports development manager Graham Chester said: ‘The vision for both islands, when Derek and I started in our jobs 10 or 12 years ago, was always very similar and that was to put in place strategies to enable everybody, at whatever standard, to compete at whatever level they wished to compete in.

‘The standard that has been achieved is outstanding. I could not say that this year’s nominees are the best yet – they are comparable to what we have seen. That is excellent, because underneath there are more and more people coming through in both islands, pushing that standard even further.’

Derek de la Haye, Jersey’s assistant director for Education, Sport and Culture, described the five-strong contenders list as truly phenomenal.

‘These are five names who have achieved a great deal in their sport and what is really fantastic is that there are so many more people in the Channel Islands who could be well worthy of a nomination,’ he said.