Guernsey captain eyes promotion

Stuart Le Prevost says Guernsey are already hoping to win Division Seven

Guernsey captain Stuart Le Prevost says the island side are already looking ahead to getting promoted from World League Division Seven next May.

Guernsey will host the tournament, their first ever at world level, which is the first step on the road to qualifying for the 2015 World Cup.

If they come in the top two they will be promoted to the Division Six tournament in Singapore in September.

"To be able to go to somewhere like Singapore will be brilliant," he said.

It was a close call between divisions seven and six

ICC Europe official Richard Holdsworth

"Ideally we would like to have gone straight into Division Six, but you can't always have it your own way and this is the next best thing hosting Division Seven," he added on BBC Guernsey.

The man responsible for deciding where to place teams in the world structure says it was a close call on which league to place Guernsey in.

"It was a close call between divisions seven and six," said the ICC's Europe development manager Richard Holdsworth.

"The regional rankings would bear a very important part of that process.

"Norway are currently ranked above Jersey and Guernsey and Gibraltar one below Guernsey.

But Le Prevost concedes that the pressure on amateur players to find time away from work and their families may take its toll on the island side.

"Some people aren't going to be able to do both tournaments, it's a difficulty.

"We are going to have to bear with people and understand if they can't make things through work commitments because after all we are amateurs and we've got to remember that," he said.

With home advantage Guernsey will be the hot favourites to make it out of Division Seven.

They have already beaten the other European team, Gibraltar, convincingly on two occasions in the past two years, although they finished just behind Guernsey in third place in the European Division Two tournament in the summer.