JCA to review T20 flop

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Officials of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) will meet today to discuss the circumstances that led to the senior men's national team's poor performance in the recently-concluded Caribbean Twenty20 Championship in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

The meeting will take place at the JCA's Sabina Park offices.

Jamaica, ranked among the favourites, finished fourth after losing to Barbados by six wickets in the semi-finals; and to Trinidad by 10 wickets (D/L Method) in the third-place play-off.

"It will be a debriefing as per established process and procedures of the JCA, nothing out of the norm," said JCA president, Paul Campbell, downplaying the significance of the meeting, despite the team's results and subsequent revelations by the team's manager, Courtney Francis.

Following the tournament, Francis said the structure and management of Twenty20 cricket in Jamaica, along with player-selection and team preparation, were among reasons for the team's poor showing.

"We went wrong both on and off the field at the tournament and this was not by accident. We weren't prepared enough and as a result we had to be playing catch-up cricket, especially in the final round in Trinidad," Francis told The Gleaner.

"Our local Twenty20 competition needs to be restructured. Currently, it is played in a knock-out format, which is not enough to properly develop and test the skills of players.

"Another area which needs to be addressed is the matter of player selection. T20 cricket is a much faster, shorter, explosive form of the game and we need to choose players who can effectively deal with the demands."

The meeting, to be chaired by Campbell, will see the association's executive reviewing a number of reports, including those of the team's coach, captain, fitness trainer and manager.

Guyana won the tournament after defeating Barbados by one wicket in the final, and will next month represent the region in the Airtel Champions Twenty20 League, which carries a prize money of US$11 million.