Aspida backs new Guernsey Cricket Nations Cup celebrating the Island’s international community

Guernsey Cricket
55 minutes ago
3 min read

Guernsey Cricket is delighted to announce the launch of the inaugural Aspida Guernsey Cricket Nations Cup, a new end-of-season competition bringing together players from across the Island’s diverse international communities.

The new T10 competition, sponsored by Aspida, will begin on Monday 24 August, with the final taking place on Wednesday 2 September, and will feature six teams representing Guernsey, South Africa, India, Rest of the World, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The draw, which was conducted without seedings, has placed Guernsey alongside South Africa and India in Group A, while Rest of the World, Bangladesh and Pakistan will contest Group B.

Group A

Guernsey – sponsored by Golf 19
South Africa – sponsored by Zeta
India – sponsored by Smarter Payments

Group B

Rest of the World – sponsored by Samley
Bangladesh – sponsored by Apogee
Pakistan – sponsored by Leonard Curtis

The Nations Cup has been created to provide an exciting conclusion to the domestic cricket season while celebrating the different nationalities and communities that have become such an important part of cricket and Island life in Guernsey.

Players from a wide range of backgrounds now participate regularly in local cricket, and the competition will give them the opportunity to come together and represent their country or community in a short, fast-paced tournament.

Each team will play the other two sides in its group once, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the semi-finals. The winners of the two semi-finals will then meet in the inaugural Aspida Guernsey Cricket Nations Cup Final on Wednesday 2 September.

The Guernsey team will be selected from players competing in Divisions 2, 3 and 4 of the Headway T20 Surge, providing an opportunity for players outside the Island’s leading domestic division to represent Guernsey in the competition.

Guernsey Cricket is delighted that the inaugural Nations Cup has received significant backing from the business community.

Aspida is the title sponsor of the tournament, while each of the six competing teams has its own individual sponsor:

Bangladesh – Apogee
Guernsey – Golf 19
India – Smarter Payments
Pakistan – Leonard Curtis
Rest of the World – Samley
South Africa – Zeta

Each team will be provided with its own playing shirts reflecting the colours and identity of the nation it represents and featuring the support of its respective team sponsor.

Guernsey Cricket is extremely grateful to Aspida, Apogee, Golf 19, Smarter Payments, Leonard Curtis, Samley and Zeta for supporting the inaugural competition and helping to establish an event which it is hoped will become an important annual celebration of cricket and the wider Island community.

Guernsey Cricket COO Richard Headington said:

“One of the great things about cricket in Guernsey today is the number of different nationalities and communities that the game brings together. Every week throughout the domestic season we have people who were born in different parts of the world playing alongside and against one another. The Nations Cup gives us an opportunity to celebrate that, while creating what we hope will be a really enjoyable and competitive end to the season.

Now that the groups have been drawn, the competition is beginning to feel very real. There were no seedings, so it was a completely open draw, and I think we have ended up with two really interesting and competitive groups. We want this to be more than simply another cricket tournament. We would love to see families, friends and members of the different communities coming along to support their teams and creating a real festival atmosphere around the matches.

It is also important that Guernsey itself is represented. By selecting the Guernsey side from players in Divisions 2, 3 and 4, we can give a different group of local cricketers the opportunity to pull on a Guernsey shirt and represent the Island.

We are delighted to have Aspida supporting the inaugural competition as title sponsor. Their backing has helped us turn the idea of a Nations Cup into reality and we are extremely grateful for their continued support of Guernsey cricket. We have also had a fantastic response from the business community. To have Apogee, Golf 19, Smarter Payments, Leonard Curtis, Samley and Zeta each supporting one of the six teams is a tremendous vote of confidence in the competition.

Our ambition is for the Nations Cup to become an established annual event that brings together not only Guernsey’s cricket community, but families, friends and supporters from across the different communities represented in the Island.”

The full fixture schedule and team squads will be announced shortly.