Orville Higgins | Grading the Scorpions

Another Regional Super50 season has come and gone.

Another season has passed with the Jamaican franchise coming home without silverware. It is now eight years since Jamaica have won the regional One Day title, and unless there is some dramatic turnaround in fortunes, that period of drought could extend for a while yet.

I will use this ­article to give the players a grade out of 10, based on how they performed in the tournament.

Captain Rovman Powell gets 9.5. He was brilliant with the bat, scoring a team high of 452 runs with two centuries and an average of 58.85. He was rollicking along at a strike rate of 160 as well.

Andre McCarthy gets a nine for his all-round effort. He scored 363 runs at 45 an innings and also claimed 11 wickets at an economy rate of 4.88.

Nkrumah Bonner gets an 8.5. At his best, he is one of the most technically sound batsmen in the region. He had a great tournament, 354 runs at an average of 50.57. He faded towards the back end of the tournament but did well overall.

Assad Fudadin gets an eight. He had an average of 43, while scoring 345 runs, which was good, even though his strike rate of 70.69 could improve.

Jermaine Blackwood gets two out of 10. He scored only 82 runs at 11.71. He has talent, but he needs to revisit his ultra aggressive approach to batting. His career is now at a crossroads.

Aldane Thomas gets a four. He was saddled with the responsibility to open, which was an experiment that did not work, in my view. He played a couple of handy knocks but averaged a mere 19.25. His keeping was decent, if not spectacular.

Derval Green was reasonable with the ball. His eight wickets in eight games was acceptable even though his economy rate of 5.81 was on the high side. He only managed 47 runs at a paltry 6.71 with the bat. That is unacceptable for someone with his talent. He gets a five.

One of Andre Coley’s roles as the new coach is how to get him to develop with the bat. The other all-rounder in the squad was Jamie Merchant. He gets a 6.5. He averaged 15 with the bat, and of all the regular bowlers, he had the best economy rate with the ball at 3.98.

Dennis Smith, the newcomer in the side, gets a 4.5. He averaged 25 but showed good temperament and looked busy in the middle. He could be useful in the middle order down the road.

Oshane Thomas gets a seven. He had a team high of 17 wickets and shows that, when at his best, he will roll batsmen over. He was going at 5.82 per over, though, which cannot be desirable.

Dennis Bulli gets a 6. His 12 wickets at 5.28 was decent.

The two new ball bowlers in Marlon Mindley and Nicholson Gordon had limited opportunities, playing only two games and one, respectively. Neither took a wicket, and they were going at 6.33 and 6.40, ­respectively. They both get a three.

Left-arm spinner Christopher Lamont only played three games. He should have been a fixture in this team, based on talent, and he must do what he needs to do to always be in the good books of management. He did not get a wicket, either, but with an economy rate of 5.08, he comes out at 4.5.

In summary, the batting at the top of the order, except for Blackwood, was good. The batting in the lower middle order and the tail left a lot to be desired.

The bowlers, except for Merchant, can all tighten up on their economy rates and their ability to pick up wickets, while the fielding, generally, was ­substandard. There is a lot to work on before the four-day season starts early next year.

Orville’s Scorebook

- Rovman Powell 9.5/10

- Andre McCarthy 9/10

- Nkrumah Bonner 8.5/10

- Assad Fudadin 8/10

- Oshane Thomas 7/10

- Jamie Merchant 6.5/10

- Dennis Bulli 6/10

- Derval Green 5/10

- Dennis Smith 4.5/10

- Christopher Lamont 4.5/10

- Aldane Thomas 4/10

- Markino Mindley 3/10

- Nicholson Gordon 3/10

- Jermaine Blackwood 2/10