Bravo: Jamaica will be difficult opponents

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Trinidad and Tobago all-rounder Dwayne Bravo said Jamaica will be difficult to beat during the upcoming West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) President's Cup one-day tournament, which will be held here, starting next week.

The 26-year-old, who is expected to play a key role as Trinidad and Tobago seek to claim a third-straight hold on the title, said on paper Jamaica have one of the strongest teams and, coupled with the fact that they are playing at home, they will be difficult to overcome.

"Jamaica at home will be difficult, especially given the players they have," said Bravo following the second annual staging of the Chris Gayle Pro-15 Charity Cricket festival, held at the Kaiser Sports Club last weekend.

"However, we feel we have the depth to pull through, and as defending back-to-back champions, will be going all out to defend our crown," he added.

Gayle as captain

Jamaica, who earlier this year wrapped up a third straight hold on the regional four-day crown, will be captained by Chris Gayle and will include batsmen Xavier Marshall, Marlon Samuels, Brendan Nash and recent Caribbean Twenty20-standout Danza Hyatt.

The bowling, meanwhile, will be led by all-rounders David Bernard Jr and Andre Russell, and another Caribbean Twenty20 star, left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie.

Their last victory came in 2007-2008 when, led by Gayle, Nash, and a then up-and-coming Shawn Findlay, copped the regional double.

Since then, however, it has been all Trinidad, with the red-and-white standard-bearers winning in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.

Trinidad line-up

Trinidad's line-up this season, in addition to Bravo, includes Twenty20 sensation Kieron Pollard, Darren Bravo, Lindl Simmons, Denesh Ramdin, and Adrian Barrath.

The tournament, which is the first for the 2010-2011 season, will see Jamaica and Trinidad opening their campaigns on Thursday, October 14 at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium and Chedwin Park, respectively.

Jamaica will play the Windward Islands. Trinidad face the Combined Campuses and Colleges.

The other competing teams are Guyana, Barbados, the Leeward and Windward Islands, and a WICB-Sagicor High Performance Centre outfit.

The final is slated for Sabina Park on Sunday, October 24.