Cottrell backs Scorpions for Super50 title
Published:Friday | February 5, 2021 | 12:10 AMLennox Aldred/Gleaner Writer
Fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell says that the Jamaica Scorpions can give a good account of themselves in the Regional Super50 tournament and challenge for the title despite the franchise having less than ideal preparations going into the tournament.
Cottrell was among the six franchise representatives who spoke to the media yesterday, with the left-arm seamer sitting in as representative for the absent captain Rovman Powell, who is on West Indies duties in Bangladesh.
Powell is expected to join the team on Sunday or Monday, with all-rounder Fabian Allen and batsman Brandon King.
The trio’s arrival will be just three days before Jamaica face Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
Having not played a single practice game before embarking on the limited-overs tournament, Cottrell believes that the lack of match practice will not hamper the team severely as the squad has been putting in work in other areas.
“I don’t think the lack of practice games will affect us too much because we have put in a lot of work on our fitness, and I think coach Andre Coley and Nikita Miller have done a wonderful job with all that has been going on. I think we are ready,” Cottrell said.
The Scorpions have been bolstered by the early arrival of West Indies One-Day batsman Andre McCarthy, who joined the rest of the squad in Antigua, and Cottrell says that the mixture of youth and experience in the squad can go a far way in the truncated 50-over tournament.
“We have spent a lot of time in the middle, hitting a lot of balls, and the spirit of the team is quite good,” Cottrell said.
Cottrell said that the team has to go into the tournament with the confidence of winning it, or it makes no sense competing.
“If we as a team don’t have that belief, might as well we should be back in Jamaica and not in Antigua. I think we can put up a fight for the title this year,” he said.