BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Traditional powerhouses Barbados and three-time defending champions Jamaica will look to get their seasons firmly on track in the third round of the WICB Regional first-class championship, starting today at Kensington Oval. The Barbadians are seventh on the eight-team ladder with six points, after they conceded first innings points in their first two matches, which ended in draws against Trinidad & Tobago on the road, and the England Lions on home soil.
Captain Ryan Hinds has bemoaned his side’s fielding, which has let both T&T and the Lions off the hook, and felt this would be a crucial area to get right if Barbados are to come out on top.
“It has tended to let us down at crucial moments, and we have been working really, really hard on this area of our game, so if we can get this right, we believe we will be far more competitive than we have been in the last two matches,” he said.
“We have been batting pretty well, and we have been playing good team cricket. Once we can get all the parts of our game together, we will be able to put up a good fight this weekend.”
The Jamaicans are tied with the Lions and T&T on 18 points, but they are effectively third under the tie-breaker rules of the competition.
They crushed Guyana by 165 runs, after conceding first innings points, and then had to settle for a draw, after gaining first innings points from Windward Islands, when the rain wiped out the last two sessions of that match.
Their captain Tamar Lambert was quietly confident of doing well, but he cautioned that Barbados are one of the toughest sides to beat in the region.
“Things have been going well for us so far in the competition,” he said.
“We have not batted as consistently as we would have liked, particularly in the first innings, so we are looking forward to the challenge against Barbados. We know they have a good bowling attack, and will come hard at us.”
He said: “Once we go out there and be positive, we can do well. I have full confidence in all my players, and they have strong self-belief, so we are confident we can put on a good show against the Barbadians.”
Both teams have kept faith with the squads that were chosen for the previous round of matches, but Barbados’ squad has bulged to 14, with the return of fast bowler Tino Best, following a one-match suspension.
He was dramatically added to the squad, following a meeting of the Barbados Cricket Association’s board of management on Tuesday, when his ill-advised act of indiscipline was discussed.
Best was omitted for the match against the Lions, after a verbal assault on female team trainer Shannon Lashley over fitness drills ahead of that game.
His name did not appear on the team list for this match, published on Monday by the BCA, but following the intervention of Ralph Thorne, a leading local attorney-at-law, acting on behalf of Best, the BCA reviewed the matter, and the fast bowler was cleared to rejoin the squad and to play.
It remains to be seen, however, whether Best will make the final 11, and offers Hinds plenty more firepower than he had in the previous game, with Pedro Collins, recuperating West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards, teenaged all-rounder Jason Holder, and West Indies A-Team all-rounder Kevin Stoute forming the fast bowling arsenal.
Bowling is the strength of the Jamaicans, with Jerome Taylor, another recuperating West Indies fast bowler, as the spearhead.
But their batting will be the key, and they will need to show a far more consistent effort than they have shown so far.
Barbados, in particular, will hope the pitch offers much more assistance than it did against the Lions, when the two sides racked-up 1 009 runs for the lost of 20 wickets, with three batsmen walking away with hundreds.
The weather has been a little bit unpredictable in Barbados since the start of the New Year, but the Jamaicans should have no fears about it deteriorating to what they experienced in Grenada in the previous round.
Based on results over the last decade, it’s hard to pick a winner. Of the 16 matches they have contested from 2000 onwards, both sides have won seven, with the other two ending in draws, and either side gaining first innings points in those.