KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – As Jamaica hunt an elusive Caribbean Twenty20 title in the tournament which starts today in Antigua, team coach Junior Bennett reckons that the batsmen must try not to allow so many dot balls to be bowled.
“We have been taking a look at our Twenty20 performances in the past and one of things that we have noticed is the amount of dot balls per over that the team has been facing,” Bennett said.
“We have been averaging about 70 dot balls per innings which cannot work and we have been talking to the players about it.”
Bennett said not scoring off a high number of deliveries was a key area, which needed to be addressed.
“We have also been trying to work on this area and other areas as well during our trial and practice matches, as what we would love is for us to get the average to about 40 dot balls per innings and to totals of over the par score 160 at eight runs per over.
“If we can do this, it should significantly improve our chances of winning the tournament and we are looking forward to this happening,” Bennett asserted.
Jamaica have dominated the regional four-day championship in recent years with four consecutive titles. They also captured the West Indies Super50 title in Guyana last October but are yet to win the T20 tournament, of which Trinidad & Tobago are the reigning champions.
The Jamaicans are in a tough Group B with Barbados, Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC), Netherlands and English county team Sussex. Their opening match is against CCC tomorrow at 8 p.m (Eastern Caribbean time; 7 p.m. Jamaica time).
Group A comprises Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands and Canada.
Matches will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua from January 9 to 14 before the tournament moves to Kensington Oval in Barbados from January 17 to 22.
Jamaica squad: David Bernard Jr (captain), Danza Hyatt, Kenar Lewis, Marlon Samuels, Andre McCarthy, Horace Miller, Nkrumah Bonner, Shawn Findlay, André Russell, Carlton Baugh Jr, Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, Sheldon Cotterell, Krishmar Santokie.