Cricket is surely expanding and the game is being played with a lot of enthusiasm across all the small territories of the world. New Jersey lies in a small northern state some 130 miles of Atlantic Coast line. It has a small population of 8.938 million yet their big dreams and extreme hard work has made them the most influential Cricket team of this year ICC Wt20 Qualifiers: Road to India 2016.
Although their recorded 1st match was in 1957 A.D. and their first ever win was registered in 1960 A.D., relatively they are new country in the biggest scene as they were given the ICC membership just in 2005, a golden year for International Cricket as the clash between Australia and England produced more cricket fans all over the world. And more importantly International cricket was blessed with the duo hitters like Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen. In between 1992 to 2001 they won 10 matches in a row.
The first major ICC event for them turned out to be Division 2 of the European Championship in Scotland in 2006. They fought up to the Final but lost eventually to Norway in the final. The huge challenge that New Jersey accomplished was to beat 3 match series which was mandatory for them to win to get the Associate membership of ICC.
This followed series of disappointment for the Jersey boys as they stood up initially as Division 5 runners up, got promoted to Division 4 of the World Cricket League in May 2008. After this in the same year in October, they were relegated back to Division 5 following a very poor performance. Similarly, series of failure again followed them when they were relegated down to Division 6 in 2010 which was held in Nepal.
But as they say, “You change your fate with your own hand”. So Jersey fought back, labored hard, worked together and got the results in their favor. In 2013, they won 5 games unbeaten to get promoted to Division 5. In March 2014, in Malaysia, they again achieved the promotion and made back to WCL Division 4.
These stats and analysis shows a clear picture of Jersey Cricket in a progressive mode since 3 years. They grew from root of failures and now are playing up to their strengths. The performance in this ongoing fixture of World T20 Qualifiers in Scotland & Ireland is an example of this small nation, their dedication and hard work paying off.
Jonty Jenner, a product of Sussex cricket club has impressed most of the viewers, analytics and Commentators involved in the game. In the 6 matches he featured, he has scored 210 runs at an impressive average of 52.50 with a brilliant strike rate of 144.82. With 1 fifty in the tournament, he has scored 18 fours and 9 sixes. He is still standing tall in the 2nd position among some big names and talented top 10’s in the batting list featuring some great emerging batsmen in world cricket. The future of International Cricket, Jonty Jenner is the back bone of Jersey’s batting order.
Another name holding the team together is their leader and captain of the team, peter Gough. In the 6 matches that he took part, he scored solid 191 runs at a healthy average of 39.80. His strike rate is 106.11 and scored 20 fours in the tournament. Gough has been a Crisis man and exceptional cool headed guy in this solid batting line up of New Jersey.
The next important part of Success of New Jersey has been their Trio bowlers who have rose to the situation to provide important breakthrough of the opponents. They are in the list of top 20 wicket takers in the tournament. They have taken 23 wickets in 6 matches with 60.4 overs bowled together. The average of all three bowlers is less than 20 which reflects the discipline balling they have deliver and the effect of that being lot of quick wickets for them. They have also balled 138 dot balls which is 37% of the total deliveries delivered by them in this mega event of Associates.
The fielding standard was set high by them, saved boundaries, took splendid catches, outstanding run outs and impressive field work proving that New Jersey has been an impressive country coming into the bigger state. A lot more great performance to come from this little nation of huge Cricketing possibilities, all which is needed is a lot more tournament like this from the head of governing bodies.
