KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica Scorpions batsman Jermaine Blackwood is angling to get back into the West Indies squad and believes his performance in the Regional Four-Day Championship thus far could get him there.
With 768 runs– including one century and six half-centuries – accumulated in the first eight rounds of the tournament, Blackwood is the leading run scorer.
“I am always looking to get back in the West Indies team and I know once I score runs, I will always keep my name in the selectors’ minds,” the 28-year-old middle-order batsman said.
On the heels of a double century – 248 which he made in over eight hours at the crease in the match against Leeward Islands Hurricanes that Scorpions won by an innings and 118 runs at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Sunday – Blackwood had credited his fitness routine for helping him reach the monumental score.
The Jamaica Scorpions head coach, Andre Coley, is also confident Blackwood will be back in maroon and gold.
“His whole approach this season has been different; he has shown more application and willingness to stay at the crease and put a higher price on his wicket. It is a testament to the hard work which he has put in and he has surely put his name in the hat for West Indies selection,” he said.
With two more rounds to go in the West Indies four-day Championship, the season been suspended due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has affected several Caribbean countries.
Blackwood made his Test debut for the West Indies against New Zealand in June 2014 and his One Day International debut for the Caribbean side against Sri Lanka in November 2015. He scored a maiden Test century in the first Test of England’s 2015 tour. The Jamaican last played for West Indies in September 2019, as a concussion substitute for Darren Bravo in the second innings of the second Test against India at Sabina Park here.
