Jamaica fit and ready to face regional rivals
Published:Friday | July 2, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer
Jamaica's physical trainer, David Bernard Sr, says the members of the country's 18-member cricket squad for this month's inaugural staging of the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship in Barbados and Trinidad, are fit and raring to go.
Speaking to Gleaner shortly after the team's final day of fitness tests last Friday at Sabina Park, Benard said he was impressed with the showing of all players, including returnee Marlon Samuels and he was looking forward to a successful championship.
"Twenty20 is a sort of an anaerobic activity so recovery has to be high, and this is what most of the tests were centred around," said Bernard.
"We did a lot of sprinting drills and so on and everybody looked good. It seems that the ongoing cricket season has been helping them a lot.
Jamaica, who are one of the favourites for the championship, will be seeking to add the regional Twenty20 title to their four-day crown, after failing to make the semi-finals of the one-day competition last November.
"Everybody is looking forward to the tournament with great enthusiasm. They are keen and showing a lot of zest in the training sessions, and I expect them to give a very good account of themselves," said Bernard.
FIRST OF ITS KIND
The championship, which will be held between July 22 and 31, will be the first of its kind since the 2008 Stanford 20/20 tournament which was discontinued after its main financier, Allan Stanford, was arrested and charged in the United States for fraud.
The winners will represent the region at the second annual Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa in September.
The region was represented last year by Trinidad and Tobago, winners of the 2008 Stanford 20/20 tournament.
SQUAD: Tamar Lambert, Danza Hyatt, Donovan Pagon, Xavier Marshall, Horace Miller, Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds, Jon Ross Campbell, Zeniffe Fowler, Carlton Baugh Jr, Damian Ebanks, Andrew Richardson, Sheldon Cotterell, Richardo Dacres, Krishmar Santokie, Odean Brown, Bevon Brown, and David Powell.