Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Sports Reporter
CRICKET is a family sport and the Jersey national cricket team takes that literary, as parents of players travel around the world supporting their sons representing the English Channel island.
The Jersey team bowed out of the T20 Men’s World Cup Qualifier B in Bulawayo after losing their opening two matches.
Jersey, an International Cricket Council Associate Member, were in group A with Zimbabwe, United States of America and Singapore.
They played their first match at Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC) against USA and lost by eight wickets before putting up a gallant fight in a 23-run losing cause against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club the following day.
Despite restricting Zimbabwe to 146 runs, their batsmen were put to the sword by the Chevrons’ bowlers and eventually fell 23 runs shot.
Jersey won their dead rubber on Thursday, beating Singapore by 13 runs.
During all their matches, there was a small contingent of supporters rallying the team with constant chats of “come on Jersey boys”.
One of the supporters and former politician
James Perchard turned his potato field in Jersey into a cricket pitch now called the Farmers Cricket Ground.
Perchard served as Assistant Minister and Minister of Health and Social Services from 2008–2009 before resigning from politics in 2011.
His son Charles is captain of the Jersey cricket team and he took three wickets in the tournament.
“I was a farmer and used to grow potatoes on the field next to my house. In 2003, I got permission from the government to turn it into a cricket field, and so, we built the farmer’s field, which has grown more than I had anticipated. It now hosts ICC matches and I spend a lot of time on the Farmers’ Ground, particularly on the square,” said Perchard.
He travelled with his wife Susan to Zimbabwe to support their son.
He said although Jersey is a British island and they all have British passports, they are, however, not Brits.
“We have a perculiar relationship with the monarchy and the crown. We are British subjects, but self-governing. We are an island in the English Channel very close to France to the south of England and we can see France Jersey.
“We have full and open elections and our government has 52 elected members. We have laws very similar to the UK laws. We tax our residents at a different rate from the UK and Jersey has become quite a successful finance industry.
We always had very low income tax rates and have never had corporate tax,” he said.
The Jersey dairy milk cow in Zimbabwe originated from the island nation. The state of New Jersey in the USA was named after inhabitants from the island settled there.
Perchard said Jersey used to be famous for shipbuilding and residents knitted thick warm clothing for sailors which famously became known as jerseys.
He said they loved travelling with the Jersey team and want to see more of Zimbabwe.
“We haven’t seen enough of Zimbabwe, as we flew into Bulawayo via Victoria Falls and haven’t had a chance to properly explore Zimbabwe. The people we’ve met have been charming and are very interested in Jersey, and made us feel very welcome,” Perchard said.
The togetherness of the team and parents is because of the small population of about 100 000 people that Jersey has.
Perchard said he knew each of the national team players from the time they were young.
“Our players have to be born in Jersey or residents of Jersey. There’s no such a thing as dual nationality like some teams at this level. I knew most of these players when they were schoolboys. They’ve played together, trained together and socialised together on the island for years.”
Another parent Ward Jenner, whose son Jonty is a top-order batsman, has been following his son around the globe.
He said cricket runs in his family, as he once captained Jersey and was also chairman of the Jersey Cricket Board.
“We have five sets of very proud parents after a very fantastic performance. We have followed the Jersey cricket team for the past 10 years. This is the first time for us being in Zimbabwe, and it’s been tremendous; the whole organisation, the grounds’ atmosphere and the spirit in which the games are being played was topped off by a remarkable performance by your lads (Zimbabwe) in a close game,” said Ward.
His son Jonty said it was always a great feeling having the moral support of his parents in the stands.
“It’s always nice to have them and they have always come to watch me and support me all the way through. I think it’s an interesting one with cricket, especially as a batsman, it’s about failing sometimes, and how you deal with failure.
You may get 20 or 30 runs and you still kind of feel like you’ve failed, but mum and dad have been there to support me. Even if you’re having a rubbish day, you look over to them and smile at them and it’s lovely to have them on my side,” said Jonty.
Alan Stevens travelled to Zimbabwe to support his son Ben, who has been playing for Jersey for the past 14 years since he was 16.
“It’s always very nerve-racking and I’ve been doing that for 14 years, but it doesn’t change much. Some great triumphs and really good moments and some great disappointments. We are very relieved by this result (win over Singapore), as this was our first T20 win in a very long time,” said Stevens. — Follow on Twitter @bonganinkunzi
Online Reporter