Tribe aims to take form into Jersey T20 World Cup qualifiers

BBC News

30-06-2025

Asa Tribe says he wants to take his recent good form for Glamorgan into Jersey's 2026 T20 World Cup qualifiers.The island travel to the Netherlands this week to compete in the final round of European qualifiers for the tournament in India and Sri Lanka.Jersey will take on the hosts plus Scotland, Italy and Channel Island rivals Guernsey, with the top two sides in the round-robin event progressing. Tribe, 21, has had a breakout season with Glamorgan, scoring his maiden first-class century against Leicestershire earlier this month, while his 63 not out ensured Glamorgan beat Gloucestershire in the T20 Blast.He is part of an experienced Jersey squad - 12 of the 15-man party competed at the same stage two years ago "I've played some good T20 cricket for Glamorgan this year and I'm looking to transfer that back into a Jersey shirt," Tribe told BBC Radio Jersey."I love playing T20 cricket, the kind of shots you have to play and the tactics and how fast paced it is, I really enjoy it."
Tribe is the first island player to make it into the English first-class game since Jersey became an international nation.He made his international debut for Jersey as a 17-year-old, has played 25 T20 internationals to date and featured in all five of Jersey's games in their 50-over World Cup qualifiers in Namibia in 2023.Tribe says qualifying for a World Cup for the first time - having reached the final round of qualifying four times in the past - would be massive for Jersey. "It would make a huge amount of difference for a small island like ourselves and 100% we'll be giving it our best shot," he said."Who knows, in a T20 tournament like this, things can happen and we'll hope they fall on the right side for Jersey."The right-handed batter is one of just two fully professional players in the Jersey squad alongside Wellington's Nick Greenwood, who was born on the island before emigrating with his family to New Zealand as a toddler.Tribe hopes being the first island-trained player to make a career in county cricket will inspire the next generation of Jersey talent."When I was coming through as a Jersey player, there was always aspirations to play for Jersey on the international stage, but it was very much 'it's that or nothing', and getting into a county cricket set-up was very hard because they pick their own," he said."I didn't really like that and I never really believed that myself, so when I got a first taste for it, I wanted to sort of prove people wrong and know that wasn't the case."I hope what I'm currently doing allows people to see that there's a career outside of Jersey cricket and you can make it as a professional cricketer if you are born there."