Under-15s hunt regional cricket title

Head coach Phillip Service believes Jamaica's team has a good chance of winning the Cricket West Under-15 Championship, which bowls off today at three venues across the country.

Jamaica, who have struggled in the age-group tournament, especially in the past three years where they finished in sixth and last position, will host Leeward Islands at Melbourne Oval in the feature game of the opening round.

The other matches will see defending champions Barbados playing Trinidad and Tobago at Sabina Park, and Guyana facing the Windward Islands at Kensington.

‘’The team has prepared well and are confident of doing well, particularly given the fact that we are playing at home,’’ said Service, who took over the reins of the team last season.

‘’We have two players from last year’s team in captain and batting all-rounder, Sanjay Walker, and opener Jordan Johnson, and together with several talented youngsters, we have a good unit.

‘’Our preparation for the tournament included several warm-up matches against Under-17 teams, and throughout all, we equipped ourselves well.

‘’It is just for us to now go out there, and put it together, which myself and the coaching and management staff, believe is possible.’’

Jamaica won one of their five matches last season in Barbados, which represented an improvement on the two previous seasons, where they failed to win a game.

The Barbadians captured the title last year on home soil, following victories over Windwards, Leewards, Jamaica and T&T, and a no-result against Guyana.

The tournament – in its 23rd year – will be contested over a 10-day period under a round-robin format. It will feature five rounds of matches with the team accumulating the most points being declared champions.