KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC –Andre Russell and Shawn Findlay said a lack of togetherness undermined Jamaica’s chances of becoming regional Triple Crown champions.
The Jamaicas were brushed aside in the Final of the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament that ended in Barbados on Sunday, when Trinidad & Tobago claimed their second straight title with a commanding, 63-run victory at Kensington Oval.
Russell was unambiguous about the reasons for Jamaica’s demise, blaming a lack of cohesiveness among the players.
“As a team it is about sticking together and we are kind of lacking in that department at the moment,” the West Indies all-rounder said in an article appearing in the Jamaica Gleaner yesterday.
“It’s not professional for players to go on the field and some are doing one thing and some are doing another thing. We need to work together more as a team and if we can do that, then just like how we win the other tournaments we can win the T20 as well.”
Jamaica are the reigning Regional 4-day and Super50 champions, and were eager to complete the triple of senior regional tournaments.
Findlay noted that they had beaten T&T in the RS50 final last October in Guyana, when the side was unified under Chris Gayle, but he said the divisions were inconquerable this time.
“The team spirit was not the best,” he said. “Some of the players were not pulling for each other as we wanted it to be.
“We are not as unified as we should be. On match days, you tend to have one set of players pulling to one side and the others to a next. You’re never going to win a tournament like that.”
He added: “When we won the RS50 tournament everybody was gelling together. We know we can win T20 tournaments if we get to gel, as it is the gelling and chemistry that teams like Trinidad have over us.”
Jamaica captain David Bernard Jr offered a less sensational reason for his side’s feeble performance.
“A better preparation period, including the playing of more T20 competitions and matches going into the next tournament, will go a long way towards helping us to get better,” he said.
“But to do this more resources are needed and one can only hope that the Jamaican Cricket Association can get the support from corporate Jamaica to do this going forward.”
