KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- Jamaica’s batsmen are being blamed for the team’s unsuccessful bid to win the Regional Four day title for the sixth year running.
The team’s top order batsmen in particular have come under fire even from their own colleagues who say poor batting caused Jamaica to surrender the title they have been winning for the past five years.
“I believe this is the worst season in terms of our batting display as a unit,” declared Left-arm orthodox slow bowler Nikita Miller who topped the regional charts with 52 wickets at a phenomenal average of 8.05.
“I think the senior batters didn’t come up trumps for us this year and I’m sure they are disappointed about that”.
Jamaica won six straight matches all ending inside three days during the preliminary stage of the competition.
However, the Jamaicans were knocked out in the semi-finals after succumbing to a three wicket loss to the struggling Trinidad and Tobago at Sabina Park.
“Against Trinidad it is pretty obvious…we didn’t make as many runs as we could have in that second innings. After getting a lead of about 70 (runs) we needed to consolidate and get a decent total” said Miller.
“If we had gotten anything close to what we got in the first innings (246 runs), we would have won the game easily”.
Jamaica team manager Donovan Senior said the frail top-order batting left the lower-order players with too much work to often.
“We just didn’t make enough runs..,” Senior told the Jamaica Observer.
“The lower order batting usually comes good, but it didn’t happen in this game (versus T&T)”.
Chairman of selectors Courtney Daley says the batting was the major flop and says Miller should have been brought into the attack earlier to partner the rampaging Bernard.
“The batting wasn’t good at all and that caused it (the loss) … We were always behind the eighth ball throughout the tournament,” said Daley.
“But I think that possibly if we had done differently with the use of the bowlers we could have come out better”.
Jamaica also missed out on retaining the Regional Super50 title, after a semi-final defeat to the eventually winners Windward Islands last month.
