Interim head coach of the Jamaica Scorpions, Robert Haynes, said yesterday his side was brimming with confidence heading into their showdown against Guyana Jaguars in the seventh round of the Cricket West Indies Regional Four-Day Championships at National Stadium Providence from today.
Speaking exclusively with Stabroek Sport, Haynes, the former Jamaica and West Indies leg spinner, said the confidence was based on the team, which is ranked fifth in the six-team tournament, winning their last two encounters against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes and Windward Islands Volcanoes.
“The mood has been really excellent. I can’t really fault the players. The team spirit is high, these guys want to win, they have given their best and each and every player realised that they haven’t got a 100 percent of what they are trying to achieve but they are working towards it,” Haynes said.
He added: “It is a crucial game for us. We have moved one place up to fifth. We have won our last two games in Grenada and St. Kitts and we are looking to continue with that form.”
With no changes to the squad, Haynes was still concerned with the batting which he said, “has been letting us down throughout the season.”
He noted that the team has been winning which is a boost and said that they are always playing to win but added that the batsmen were getting starts and not carrying on.
However, he pointed out that they are working on the batting, stating that with a few games to go, “the guys are still capable of getting some runs, it is just for them to settle down and play the way we know how to play.”
Looking at the batting Haynes said they were aiming for in excess of 270 runs. Chadwick Walton has been the in -form man, averaging 40 with a century and two fifties while Guyanese, Assad Fudadin averages 35. Both batsmen will be comfortable at Providence with Walton having represented the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League.
Brandon King has shown promise with two half centuries while Jermaine Blackwood and Paul Palmer have been getting a few cameos but will be pressed to carry on.
Haynes commented on grass on the pitch but said that with so much rain he believes the wicket might be slow.
“The guys may be more comfortable with the ball coming on but at the end of the day whatever they put on we have to go out there and make, the name of the game is application.”
Nikita Miller has continued to do the job for Jamaica, bagging 24 scalps so far this season while Rovman Powell and Dennis Bulli have taken 15 wickets each. Haynes said that the bowling line up was “pretty solid” with Jerome Taylor and Derval Green all in the mix.
He said the team has been improving not just in the bowling department but in the fielding aspect pointing out that they dropped as much as 10 catches in a match and in the last two they have fielded well.
The first ball bowls off at 09:30 hrs.
