Leewards aim to tame the Lions

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC):

Leeward Islands will have first crack at taming the England Lions in the opening round of the WICB Regional Four-Day Tournament starting today at Warner Park.

The Lions, essentially the England A Team, are taking part in the competition for the first time in 10 years.

Last time they took part in the competition the team, under Barbados-born all-rounder Mark Alleyne, finished third in the League behind Barbados and Guyana to reach the semi-finals of the Busta International Shield.

They were eventually knocked out by the Guyanese, following a typically flamboyant performance from former West Indies captain Carl Hooper.

England Lions return with a typically well-drilled unit led by Somerset star James Hildreth, and they will cruelly expose any weaknesses in regional teams.

The Leewards were once a powerhouse in the regional competition, but have fallen on hard times recently, and they are currently undergoing a rebuilding process.

They will have to lift their game significantly to overcome the Lions, but they have enough talent in their line-up to play competitively.

Batting weakened

Leewards' batting has been weakened significantly with discarded West Indies batsman Runako Morton's decision to defect to Trinidad & Tobago, where he now resides, and the astonishing decision to omit Chesney Hughes, whose experience of playing against some of the Lions in the English County Championship last season, for Derbyshire, would have been useful.

The Warner Park pitch is typically easy-paced, and this should allow the batsmen on both sides the platform to score comfortably, but the bowling on both sides will make the difference.