Having returned from my final youth tournament of the year I’m back in the office and turning my full attention to Singapore and World Cricket League 6.

On Saturday Guernsey hosted “The Big One”, the annual game vs Jersey, which I am pleased to write, we won. There is nothing more that gets local people focused on cricket than the battle for the bragging rights in Channel Island cricket.

A decent crowd were treated to some good weather and some decent cricket. The KGV was slower than usual but offered little to no sideways movement for spinners or seamers. We were therefore content with 224 for 4 at the end of our 50 overs, in the knowledge that unless people bowled badly upping the pace was not simple.

The Jersey boys got off to a good start with a century opening partnership, that said we still achieved our target off making them need 120 off the last 20 overs, which ultimately proved key. The run rate slowly increasing brought some pressure, we picked up wickets steadily and going in to the final 5 overs we were favourites.

The pleasing thing for us as a team was the way in which we kept focused on our goals and didn’t strive for wickets, even when a partnership developed. Also Lee Savident batted through the innings for 104no which was a big thing for him. Lee’s last Inter-Insular was back in the 1990’s and he had never played in a winning team so for him to get a ton, get man of the match and win his first game was brilliant. Everyone bowled really well and kept their cool, it was a proper one-day performance. Now to repeat it in Singapore!

With being away with the U19’s, having my Level 4 interview in England, and then going to straight to Belfast for the U17’s, I’d managed to miss all of the squad sessions to date and Saturday was my first game for a month. Junior tournaments are not exactly places that allow you to focus on your own cricket. The weather didn’t really help us and the social side with evenings spent with a combination of messers Hogan, Minty, Wright, Shambrook, Eagleson, Khan and Lefebvre talking cricket until the small hours has not particularly aided my physical preparation.

Thus today forwards I am moving in to a more selfish frame of mind. I only have four days of cricket to run before we depart and I have four games myself. My wife is running holiday camps all this week and if I can wangle my way out of laundry, gardening or house duty I am hoping to spend most of my time hitting balls and in the gym. We have a squad session at the indoor centre which is like a sauna in the summer. Thus we are all training in full thermals and adding as many layers as we can just to make ourselves sweat and simulate the conditions as best we can.

We are lucky enough to be arriving a week early which should allow us some time to acclimatise. With four years of cricket in Australia behind me I feel confident of dealing with the heat, even if my body is 10 years older, however the humidity will be the test. Jamie Nussbaumer and Ben Ferbrache were on our development tour to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Sav has played quite a bit in South Africa, Gary Rich played in Australia for a bit, and then Blane Queripel and Kris Moherndl were at the ICC Europe Academy in Mumbai just over a year ago. Most of the other guys have been on various tours to warmer climes than our own. We are all aware that our skills should hold up to the test our major challenge is making sure our bodies do.

Two weeks to departure, three weeks to the first game, we can’t wait!

Jeremy will be writing for CricketEurope throughout the build up for WCL Division Six and during the tournament itself.