Kingston, Jamaica – Jamaica’s 50-over cricket captain Nikita Miller stressed that he welcomes the team’s collective ideas for the Regional Super50 tournament set to begin two weeks’ time in Trinidad & Tobago.
Miller, who made his 50-over debut against Windward Islands in 2004 in Guyana, was recently announced skipper of the Super50 squad — his first stint as leader of the team.
“It won’t be a Nikita Miller show; it will be a Jamaica team show,” Miller told the Jamaica Observer.
“I feel proud to be leading the team. It’s an honour because I’m among a select few who have had this opportunity and I’m happy. Hopefully I can just do the best I can.”
The 32-year-old, the current skipper of local club Melbourne CC, said he will be open to advice from regular four-day cricket captain Tamar Lambert.
Miller, arguably the region’s top slow left-arm orthodox bowler for a number of seasons and a capable lower-order batsman, predicted there will be no hiccups leading his long-time skipper.
He added that former limited-overs captain David Bernard, as well as other more youthful players in the 14-man set-up, can also chime in with ideas.
“Playing with somebody who is a captain is nothing new for me and we [Lambert and I] have a good understanding. In four-day cricket he asks me for ideas and we bounce them off each other.
“We also have David Bernard who was a captain of the 50-over and Twenty20 team so a lot of support is there. Everybody can make an input, whether you are senior or junior. That’s the way I’ll deal with it.”
Jamaica, the regional powerhouses in four-day cricket are not nearly as dominant in the shorter format. While they have captured six four-day titles since the 2004-05 campaign, they have only won two 50-over honours over the same period.
The former St Elizabeth Technical High School student, who is optimistic of the team’s bowling capabilities, said there is a good chance of winning the 50-over title if the batsmen come good.
“It’s a talented squad and we have good variety in terms of bowling and batting. We’ve struggled over the years in the limited-overs game. We haven’t won it a lot of times compared to four-day cricket.
“It may come down to how well we execute batting-wise and the batters believing in themselves. If we can put up good scores I think we have the bowling that can back that up. I think in terms of ability the batsmen are up there with any other team in the competition, but they have to execute,” Miller said.
Though the competition is set to start on January 15, Jamaica will not open their Super50 account until a day later when they go up against Leeward Islands in Port of Spain. (Reprinted from the Jamaica Observer)
