After the rain had cleared on Saturday, Bulgaria and Estonia – both almost 3,000kms away from the island – faced off against each other at Port Soif. Estonia won fairly comfortably in the end, but officials and players of both sides were united in their support for Guernsey as a host. Estonia Cricket Association president Tim Cross, who moved to Estonia from the UK a decade ago, was on his first visit to Guernsey and had only just arrived on the island on Saturday morning.
However, he already been impressed by what he had seen at Port Soif. ‘It’s nice to play on proper grass, most of the time around Europe we play on astroturf,’ he said. ‘And from what I saw of the island on the bus here it looks beautiful.
’ As for cricket’s profile in Estonia, Mr Cross said that about 300 people played the sport in the country, adding that there was a 10-year plan under way which aimed to get more children into the game from an early age. ‘We want to get it into the curriculum at schools, and our goal is for 1,000 kids to play every week,’ he said. ‘If we can get schools teaching it and using the kit we provide, that’ll be a big step.
’ Estonia men’s national team manager Terry O’Connor, an Australian who has spent much of his life working to promote cricket in central and eastern Europe, said that the facilities in Guernsey compared to those in some European countries was like ‘chalk and cheese’. ‘Cricket is clearly part of Guernsey culture, a lot of the p.