Guernsey skipper reflects on 'great year' for side

Ollie Nightingale led Guernsey to their first regional qualifying final for the T20 World Cup

Guernsey cricket captain Ollie Nightingale says his side have had a year to remember.

The Sarnians ended 2024 by coming last in their group at the 10-over European Cricket Championships in Spain.

But that came after the island side had won their 2026 T20 World Cup qualifying tournament and earned a berth at next year's final round of European qualifying for the first time.

"I think it's been a great year," Nightingale told BBC Radio Guernsey.

"There's been lots of improvements, a T20 win against Jersey and we came pretty close in the inter-insular against them, it's a shame we didn't get over the line there.

"Obviously the highlight was definitely the tournament win, but a lot of hard work has gone into that."

There was some disappointment with Guernsey's performance in Spain last week - they were heavily beaten by sides from Ireland, Scotland and France before ending with a win over Portugal.

But Nightingale says the event did highlight areas where his side must improve if they are to have success in 2025.

"It's been tough," he said.

"Coming into these events, we don't play much T10 cricket so we're always up against it compared to the other countries.

"We've learnt a few things, we've brought over some new players and they experienced cricket at a higher level, so that can only benefit us in the future.

"We came undone against Ireland in the evening under lights against proper pace, which is something that we probably don't get exposed to all that often.

"So the biggest takeaway for us, and looking ahead to next summer when we're going to come up against teams that probably bowl quicker than we've faced this year, is that we need some more exposure to high pace.

"We'll take that learning and move forward and over the winter try to train for that."