KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Reinvigorated West Indies batsman, Jermaine Blackwood, says he is eyeing more triple figure scores this year, in the wake of his impressive recent form for the Caribbean side.
The 29-year-old was recently named vice-captain in a second string West Indies 15-man Test squad for the tour of Bangladesh, and is expected to be a key member of the batting unit.
Blackwood was the leading batsman for West Indies on both Test tours last year, averaging 42 from five Tests with one hundred in an otherwise disappointing showing from his teammates.
“I am going to score more centuries this year. It is something that I always tell myself that I want to do once I get back into the team,” the Jamaican told the Gleaner newspaper here.
“As you can see, I have started well, it’s just for me to continue playing my game and try and win some games for my team.”
Blackwood was axed in 2017 following a tour of Zimbabwe when he scraped nine runs from three innings in two Tests.
However, he signalled his revival with a bumper year in the recent first class season, amassing 768 runs at an average 51 – highlighted by a brilliant double hundred against Leeward Islands Hurricanes.
Having forced himself back into the side for the historic tour of England last July, Blackwood struck 95 in the first Test at Southampton and followed up with 55 in the first of the two Manchester Tests, to end the series with 211 runs at an average of 35.
He carried the run-scoring into the ill-fated New Zealand tour, hitting a hundred in the first Test at Hamilton to top his side’s scoring charts with 216 runs at an average of 54.
Blackwood, who has featured in 33 Tests, said while he had returned to the squad with a hunger, he had not anticipated being the leading run-maker.
“I didn’t think I would be the main batter on the team at the start of the year. My main aim was that whenever I got back into the team, I wanted to score runs and cement my place,” Blackwood explained.
“To see how I went about things in two tough conditions in England and New Zealand, I feel very good but I still feel I could have offered more for the team batting-wise.”
Several first choice players, including captain and leading all-rounder Jason Holder, have pulled out of the Bangladesh tour due to “COVID-19 related concerns or personal fears”.
The squad is scheduled to leave the Caribbean next week for the January 10 to February 15 tour which comprises three One-Day Internationals and two Tests.
