NAIN, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica will look to being their defence of the WICB Regional first-class championship, with another dominant performance over weakened old rivals Guyana in the opening round, starting today at the Alpart Sports Complex.
The Jamaicans have lost only once to the Guyanese in the last decade. Five years ago, the Guyanese escaped with a 51-run victory at Chedwin Park.
But the Guyanese have been soundly beaten ever since, with margins of victory of seven wickets, eight wickets, 139 runs, and last year’s innings and 27 runs triumph in four of the last five matches between the two sides.
Speaking ahead of the match, leading Jamaica fast bowler Jerome Taylor indicated the reigning champions were eyeing their fourth straight title, and a victory over Guyana would be a great way to start.
“[Creating history] should be the aim of every individual in the team because once you have people thinking outside of that, then more than likely, we’re going to fall short, so playing as a unit, going out on the field to represent Jamaica should be the aim of the team,” he said.
“We’re going for four straight, and we’re going to empty the tank on the cricket field, even if we lose a game, we should come off the field knowing it was beyond us because we gave it our all.”
Taylor was looking forward to see what Sheldon Cotterell, Simon Jackson, and Chadwick Walton, all newcomers to the national side, had to offer.
“They must have some quality to be selected for the 13-member team,” he said. “There’s no doubt about their ability, but what will be of note is the gut that they have as young cricketers coming up.
“How well they handle pressure, and how much they are determined to prove to the country and the selectors that their selection was not a one-off event. They have to be consistent to show selectors that they are ready whenever a team is to be selected.”
The match will also mark the return to the first-class competition of Marlon Samuels, following his suspension from the game for inappropriate links with an Indian bookmaker.
Though Samuels has played in both the regional One-day competition, and the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship, he will be looking to make a big impact in this form of the game to try to force his way back into the West Indies team.
The Guyanese, sixth-placed finishers last year, are fully aware of the challenge they face playing against the Jamaicans on home soil without several key players either through West Indies duty, or injury, or non-selection.
But manager Carl Moore said that his inexperienced side could match the home team.
“In this young bunch, they have all had some prior experience at this level, so it will be very exciting to see what they could do to step-up to fill the gap left by those people not here,” said Moore.
“Over recent years, we have not been doing well at all, and this year we’re coming without some of our major players.”
The Guyanese are without batting stars Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, as well as seasoned batsmen Narsingh Deonarine through injury, and Travis Dowlin, who was overlooked for selection.
The Alpart pitch is no different from most around the region, and typically is hard and true making batting an easy task.
Squads- Jamaica: Tamar Lambert (captain), David Bernard Jr, Bevon Brown, Odean Brown, Sheldon Cotterell, Wavell Hinds, Danza Hyatt, Simon Jackson, Brendan Nash, Andrew Richardson, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton
Guyana: Assad Fudadin (captain), Shemroy Barrington, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton, Brendon Bess, Rajendra Chandrika, Derwin Christian, Esuan Crandon, Royston Crandon, Steven Jacobs, Leon Johnson, Veerasammy Permaul, Vishaul Singh
