The man who built an international cricket ground in his garden

"It's been life changing," says Jimmy Perchard, surrounded by caps, pictures and trinkets of international sides from the USA to Vanuatu that line the walls of his clubhouse.

If you say 2005 to any cricket fan it's usually memories of one of the greatest Ashes series of all time.

Advertisement

For Jimmy, it's when his dream became a reality - a cricket ground at the end of his garden, in St Martin, Jersey.

"When everything's coming alive, the trees are starting to blossom, the grass is starting to grow and I've got the mower on and you can smell that freshly cut grass, it takes some beating - I don't think money can buy that," he said.

Jimmy's cricket adventure started back in 1977 when a group of farmers on the island played friendlies around the busier summer times on the fields.

"We used to go for a pint afterwards and say, 'wouldn't it be nice to have our own cricket ground?'" he said.

Advertisement

Perchard gained planning permission in 2003 to build a pitch on his field, with the first ball bowled on it two years later.

"Sometimes you've just got to stick your neck out," he said.

"I'm in a very fortunate position. I own the field alongside my house and applied to planning and so it was making that dream come true."

Farmers Cricket Ground took influence from the grounds in England they visited on tour - places like Goodwood, Arundel and Wormsley.

It started with humble beginnings before becoming something of an obsession for Jimmy.

"We just had a little Portakabin and no pavilion, so we would do our best to change in the car and then make a pot of tea in the Portakabin," he said.

Advertisement

"We got planning permission subsequently and then developed the ground by putting some picket fencing and some proper boundary infrastructure and sightscreens.

"We were very fortunate to have got some people to support the facility over the years with sponsorship and it's sort of grown since then - we're still adding to it a little bit every year."

Two decades after former England captain Mike Gatting opened Farmers Field, the club took home an international title.

Farmers became the first Jersey club to win the European Cricket League - a 10-over-a-side tournament featuring leading club sides from across the continent.

Advertisement

In the final the team - based in the Jersey parish of St Martin with a population of around 4,000 - beat Roma from Italy's capital, with a population of 2.75 million, by 42 runs.

It was also the ground where the island side made it to the World Cup Global Qualifiers for the first time - defeating the Italian national side.

The moment was even more special for Jimmy, whose son Charles has gone on to become a long-serving captain of the national side.

The Jersey skipper said that alongside Grainville, the home of Jersey cricket, Farmers Field has been vital to their international hopes.

"It really has helped the national side in its ambitions of potentially qualifying for a World Cup one day," he said.

Advertisement

'Unbelievable memories'

Charles grew up with the ground at the end of his garden, making his debut in 2010 before taking over the captaincy in 2017 and said walking out on the ground as captain gave him goosebumps.

"Looking out at dad on the sidelines, all my family there, it was a special moment for sure," he said.

Jimmy added: "I'm proud of the facility but the fact that Chuggy (Charles's nickname) has done so well for Jersey makes the whole family very proud of him.

"His brother's mad keen on cricket and every daylight hour when they were children they would play cricket together.

Advertisement

"I used to play with them as well until they started beating me and they didn't want to play with me anymore."

Jersey are currently ranked 29th in the ICC's global T20 rankings.

The team only missed out on making the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka 2026 on net run rate last summer, having beaten Scotland and narrowly losing to the Netherlands in qualifying.

The side are on the pathway again - they qualified from their T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier in Cyprus last month and will return to the final round again next year as they aim to make the 2028 T20 World Cup.

Advertisement

"A lot of the national side today have come through the Farmers pipeline," said Charles.

"I think it's gone a long way to help cultivate the talent that Jersey has today, so I think a lot of gratitude should be paid to my old man and the Farmers Cricket Club for its support in helping those young players come through."

The leading light in the pipeline is Glamorgan's Jersey and England A star Asa Tribe.

Farmers is his home ground and his rapid rise to become one of the hottest prospects in the county game has put him in contention for selection for England.

"It's awesome that kids these days that are coming through, they can look at Asa," said Charles.

Advertisement

"He is a real role model for them and some of the young guys can now grow up thinking that they too can become cricketers."

"We follow him very closely," added Jimmy.

"I know when he comes back to Jersey and strolls across this bit of turf he'll have fond memories."

Click here to read article