Bottom-of-the-table clash - Jamaica Scorpions host Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at Sabina Park

The WICB Professional Cricket League Regional Four-day tournament continues at Sabina Park today with a bottom of the table clash between hosts Jamaica Scorpions Trinidad and Tobago Red Force. Match time is 10 a.m.

  Both teams have started out losing their opening two games and will be hoping to improve on what they have shown so far. The batting and bowling on both teams have simply not been consistent enough.

   Scorpions coach Robert Haynes is hoping for an improved performance against the Red Force.

  “We can’t afford to slip up the way we did away against the (Barbados) Pride and here at Sabina against the (Windward Islands) Volcanoes. Both games were winnable, we put ourselves in a position where if we applied ourselves correctly the results would have been favourable. The Red Force are without a win and there is only one thing on their minds – a victory,” said Haynes.

   He added: “The approach must be different. We have a plan which the lads have to carefully execute in order to be successful. In my team talk we discussed finding ways to finish; we need to finish properly. We need to have that fire and hunger to carry home a victory, especially from a winning position.”

THREE CHANGES

  The local selectors have made three changes. Oraine Williams, Andre McCarthy and Barbadian Kenroy Williams have been included. They replace the trio of Fabian Allen, Jermaine Blackwood and John Campbell. Allen has been ruled out due to injury; Blackwood and Campbell have been called to join the West Indies A team to participate in a warm-up match ahead of the England tour of the region.
  Red Force skipper Denesh Ramdin says his team will be looking to play good, positive cricket against the Scorpions.

  “We have to come out strong. Jamaica is a good team that if you let them get the upper hand they can make it hard for any opponent. Hopefully we can take the upper hand and do some good things here,” said Ramdin ahead of a training session at Sabina Park yesterday.

  The Red Force will be hoping that the good form of Jeremy Solazano continues. He has been the one bright spark in their batting order so far, scoring 236 runs at just a shade under 60 per innings. Solazano will need help, however. Ramdin and Jason Mohammed have done nothing significant so far. Ramdin, however, was the second leading scorer in the tournament last year, with over 700 runs, and it will be foolhardy to write him off.
  The leg spinner Imran Khan has been hot and  cold. He got  seven for under 47 against the Windwards but was  two for 147 against the Leewards Hurricanes who piled up over 400 against them.

   The Scorpions have several issues. Their batting has been ordinary this season and losing Campbell and Blackwood to the West Indies "A" team will not help, although neither of those have set the place on fire after the opening two games. McCarthy has been given another opportunity to prove that he can be as effective in red ball cricket as he is in the limited overs version.

   Assad Fudadin top scored in both innings in the last game.  His calm unruffled approach will be crucial in that Scorpions middle order. Many eyebrows were raised when both Chadwick Walton and Aldane Thomas played both opening games. The feeling by many is that both should not play, that one of them should keep wicket and allow for another specialist batsman to play. Both of them are under pressure to score runs and so far neither can be happy with their performance with the bat.   
  When Nikita Miĺler has a good game, as he almost always does, the Scorpions look a decent bowling unit. When he struggles to get wickets, as happened against the Volcanoes, the bowling unit can look tame, especially now that Derval Green is out injured. 

Jamaica Scorpions squad: 

Paul Palmer Jr (captain), Kenroy Williams, Andre McCarthy, Nikita Miller, Chadwick Walton, Oshane Thomas, Jermaine Levy, Dennis Bulli, Rovman Powell, Reynard Leveridge, Assad Fudadin, Oraine Williams, Aldane Thomas.