KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Team unity will be weighing heavily on the mind of new Jamaica Scorpions head coach, Robert Samuels, when the new Regional First Class season bowls off next weekend.
In recent seasons, Scorpions have struggled to make an impact and Samuels has put this down to a lack of togetherness in the squad, due in large part to the transition of the side.
However, the former Test player said one of his major goals during preparation for the upcoming campaign was to foster strong team spirit, with the objective of improving the Scorpions results.
“Looking at the past two seasons, I don’t think Scorpions were a team,” Samuels pointed out.
“I think because of the transition they were going through where the senior players were moving out or being pushed out and the younger players were trying to get their feet wet in the setup and trying to establish themselves, I think there was a breakdown in team unity.
Marquino Mindley … one of the fast bowlers Jamaica Scorpions will depend on in the upcoming first class season.
“What I have tried to do, first and foremost, is get everybody on the same page, [get] everybody thinking the same thing, [get] everybody trying to bond, mesh and come together as a team.”
He continued: “I’ve made some headway and hopefully by next week when we put an XI on the park, we will see that coming out … so I think the last couple of seasons we have fallen down because of the transitional period.
“We didn’t have a team going out there so hopefully next week we will see Nikita Miller leading a Jamaica Scorpions team out on the park and because of that I think we will get better results. It’s always good to play as a team win, lose or draw as a team.”
Scorpions, under the new leadership of out-of-favour West Indies left-arm spinner Miller, will be hoping for improved fortunes after disappointing recent seasons.
They finished third in the last campaign with 85 points while picking up just four wins, improving slightly over the 2014/15 season when they finished fourth with 75 points and just three victories.
Samuels pointed out that in the past, Scorpions had been let down by the fast bowling group and stressed that any revival in the franchise’s fortunes would depend on how well this department performed.
“We haven’t been getting anything much from our fast bowling department so we’re looking for an improved performance from our fast bowlers,” he said.
“We have a veteran spinner in Nikita Miller, who is now the captain, we have [leg-spinner] Damion Jacobs who is always improving so we’re looking to get the same amount of effort and wickets from them but at the same time we need to improve in our fast bowling department and we’ve been doing some work on that over the last couple of months.
“As long as the fast bowlers come to the fore and give us the start we’re looking for, we’re going to have a consistent season and improve our standing.”
Jason Dawes, Marquino Mindley and Derval Green are three seamers in the Scorpions squad for their opening game against title-holders Guyana Jaguars in Georgetown next weekend.
The squad, which also includes Test batsman Jermaine Blackwood and West Indies A stroke-maker Andre McCarthy, is set to leave the island on Tuesday for the engagement.
Samuels said while the ultimate goal was to win the competition, he was looking for improvement in the short term.
“Yes it is extremely good to win and I would love to win but at the same time … long term, I’m looking to win but short term I’m looking to improve our standing over the previous two seasons.”
