It's not even three months since the men's T20 World Cup final and the pathway to find the European representatives in the 2028 tournament has already begun, with sub-reigonal qualifier A getting underway today in Cyprus.
This isn't even the first qualifying tournament to take place - the first Americas qualifier started on the day of the final in March, whilst the EAP sub-regional event is currently underway in Japan.
The tournament is being hosted at the Happy Valley Cricket Grounds which form part of the British sovereign base area of Akrotiri on the island. Hosts Cyprus played the morning match on the main ground against France - or to be more specific a France Cricket XI as the French government are currently legally preventing France Cricket from fielding a national team. This website will refer to them as France for the sake of brevity throughout.
The Cypriots won the toss and chose to bat first, reaching 115-9 from their 20 overs. Adam Senn's 45 was their top score. France had little trouble chasing down their target, reaching it in 12.5 overs to win by eight wickets. Gustav McKeon was their top scorer with an unbeaten 56 from 28 balls.
The other game in the morning session was closer than Guernsey would have been comfortable with. After Guernsey scored 151-8 - Josh Butler (43) and Matthew Stokes (51) leading the way - Sweden replied by racing to 64-2 in their powerplay overs, twice the amount of runs Guernsey scored in the same period.
A brief interuption then occured after the Guernsey fielders complained about a large divot in the outfield, and after the resumption Sweden seemed to find runs harder to come by, with only 24 more in the next six overs, with another two wickets lost.
At 109-7, Sweden were looking well out of contention before a quick partnership of 30 for the eighth wicket between Yatharth Chauhan and Zabiullah Zahid - the latter clubbing three big sixes - gave Sweden some hope. The Guernsey bowlers got back on track in the death overs though and were able to bowl out their opponents for 139 to secure an 11 run win.
The afternoon match on the main ground saw Jersey demonstrate that even without Glamorgan's Asa Tribe - not released for this tournament and closing in on England selection - they are still the firm favourites to secure a place in next year's regional final. They bowled out Switzerland for just 73, Julius Sumerarurer taking 4-21 and Ben Ward taking 3-10, and chasing down their target in just 7.1 overs to win by nine wickets.
Jersey during today's game (ICC)
In the other game of the afternoon session, Malta were put into bat by Austria and scored 140 from their 20 overs, Muhammad Qasim top scoring with 58. The Austrians lost three wickets in their pursuit of their target, but scored their runs quickly to secure a seven wicket win in 12.5 overs.
Play continues tomorrow in Cyrprus, with Guernsey playing Malta and Croatia taking on France in the morning session, with Austria coming up against Slovenia and hosts Cyrpus facing the formidable task of Jersey in the afternoon session.
