Heaven expects competitive Scorpions

Having finished a disappointing fifth in last year’s regional four-day ­championships, President of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven, said he anticipating a much better performance from the Scorpions this year.

The Scorpions, who last won the championship in the 2011-2012 season, were quite poor last year, recording just three wins in 10 outings.

The Jamaicans, who will be led by West Indies Test opener John Campbell, are scheduled to open their account away in this year’s tournament against Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday.

With the experienced Jamaican coach Andre Coley at the helm, Heaven said he is optimistic that the team will produced a much better showing under the veteran coach.

“He (Coley) is very competent, he is very knowledgeable, he is very strategic, and so I expect him to do well with this team that we are putting on show this year,” said Heaven.

“I think, looking at it, I think it is balanced squad and I believe it is a good team and we just have to give them a chance to perform,” added the JCA boss.

Despite missing a number of key players, Heaven remains confident that the Jamaican outfit will register a strong campaign this year and will prove to be more competitive than in previous seasons.

“I think that they carry some experience with them because John (Campbell), the captain, would have represented the West Indies; and of note also, we are without some of our players (Andre) Russell, (Brandon) King, (Sheldon) Cottrell, and Paul Palmer, for various reasons,” Heaven said. “However, having said that, I believe that we can be competitive and we will be competitive this year.”

The veteran administrator underlines that his association have pumped a lot of resources into this team and therefore the players are ready and raring to go on Thursday.

“A lot of other teams are coming out with strong teams, like Barbados,” Heaven said. “But notwithstanding, the Jamaican team that we are putting on show can be and should be competitive at the end of the day.

“I can’t predict the outcome this early, but I think we will do much better than last year in the competition,” he said.

SQUAD: John Campbell, Alwyn Williams, Jermaine Blackwood, Assad Fudadin, Nkrumah Bonner, Rovman Powell, Denis Smith, Aldaine Thomas, Dennis Bulli, Nicholson Gordon, Derval Green, Patrick Harty, Marquino Mindley.