FIFTY proud Islanders marched into the Melbourne Cricket Ground today as part of the opening ceremony of the 18th Commonwealth Games.

Sporting red blazers and panama hats, Team Jersey – the biggest squad to ever represent the Island at the event – was led into the stadium by cyclist Sam Firby at 10.20 am Jersey time.

Before 81,555 spectators, which included the Queen and Prince Philip, and an estimated worldwide audience of over one billion, the Jersey team were the sixth to appear in the stadium and received a tremendous welcome from the crowd.

In a touching mark of respect, the 35 Jersey competitors and their officials all wore black ribbons or armbands in remembrance of Tony Richomme, the cycling team manager who died suddenly last month.

Speaking from the centre of the stadium where the 4,500 competitors stood for the opening, Jersey team manager Paul Huddlestone said: ‘This is just fantastic – one of best experiences of my life.

To be involved is something like this is very special and I’m sure there’s nobody in the Jersey team that will forget this in a hurry.’ Only swimmer Simon Le Couilliard was missing from the party as his opening race is tomorrow morning.

The intense rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney, which hosted the 2000 Olympic Games, meant that organisers of the 18th Commonwealth Games wanted to pull out all the stops to create what they saw as the best show on earth.

And with flying trams, a display down the Yara River for all those not able to get into the stadium and thousands of performers both in the stadium and around the city, Melbourne achieved just that.

The extravaganza started shortly before 8 pm local time (9 am Jersey time) after a day of hot sunshine in the city and finished at around 11 pm with a huge fireworks display around Melbourne.

It heralds ten days of intense competition, which will have Jersey competing in athletics, badminton, bowls, cycling, shooting, swimming and triathlon.