KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica Scorpions believe they have the side capable of challenging strongly in the Regional Super50 which bowls off tomorrow. While the 14-man squad will be missing the likes of superstars Chris Gayle and Andre Russell, it will feature the likes of Test batsman Jermaine Blackwood, limited overs all-rounder Rovman Powell, along with a slate of emerging players.
“It’s a fairly balanced squad and the captain will have options there,” chairman of selectors, Junior Bennett said ahead of the side’s departure for the January 24 to February 18 tournament.
“We have three out-and-out spinners, and you have three fast bowlers plus Rovman Powell, who bowls medium pace.”
Recently retired Test seamer, Jerome Taylor, has been included in the line-up and joins Reynard Leveridge and Gavon Brown in the fast bowling department.
Captain and left-arm spinner Nikita Miller heads the slow bowling, with leg-spinner Damion Jacobs and debutant off-spinner Damani Sewell also included. Powell, along with Blackwood, opener John Campbell, Andre McCarthy, Chadwick Walton and Devon Thomas are all hard-hitting batsmen, a feature which Miller believes will be an asset to Scorpions.
“It’s an exciting squad with a lot of aggressive players in the team and I’m looking forward to this tournament,” Miller said.
“From the top to the end, we have a lot of aggressive cricketers by nature and I believe we’ll do well.”
Sewell is the only new face in the squad after impressing selectors with both bat and ball during the trial matches, taking over 13 wickets and also producing a couple of handy knocks.
Miller said what he witnessed of Sewell during the trials had been heartening and backed him to make an impact in the tournament.
“I think he was very impressive during the trials. The way he plays when he is batting, he looks a very compact player. He looks a very confident young man who knows about the game,” said the former West Indies bowler.
“He gives that impression in his approach and I’m really impressed with his returns, and hopefully he can be an asset to this team. He’s a player who has been in the system, so Junior Bennett, as a former youth coach, would know of him,”
Scorpions will do battle in Zone B of the tournament alongside Barbados Pride, Guyana Jaguars, ICC Americas and Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners.
The group will be staged in Barbados.
Zone A, meanwhile, which is set for Antigua, will comprise title-holders Trinidad & Tobago Red Force, Windward Islands Volcanoes, Leeward Islands Hurricanes, West Indies Under-19s, and English County Kent Spitfires.
SQUAD – Nikita Miller (captain), John Campbell, Steven Taylor, Jermaine Blackwood, Brandon King, Andre McCarthy, Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton, Devon Thomas, Damion Jacobs, Jerome Taylor, Reynard Leveridge, Gavon Brown, Damani Sewell.