Jamaica hunt win No. 2

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC):

Windward Islands will look to break Jamaica's dominance over them in the second round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional first-class championship, starting today at the Queen's Park Stadium.

The Windwards are coming off a 33-run defeat to the Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) in the opening round, when the Jamaicans, the three-time reigning champions, were busy coming from behind to sting Guyana by 165 runs.

The Jamaicans are highly favoured, having won five of the 12 games they have contested against the Windwards over the last decade.

But the Windwards last beat Jamaica two years ago, when they won a match at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.

Their captain, Liam Sebastien, has promised that his side will play far more competitively than they did against the CCC, and has called on his batsmen to apply themselves.

Chasing a modest 179 runs for victory, Windwards were dismissed for 145 in their second innings.

Poor application

"We lost a game that I thought that we should have won, but we know where the problem was - we lacked application at the crease," Sebastien said.

Sebastien complimented the bowling and fielding, and is confident batsmen can step up their efforts against the Jamaicans.

"We are just looking for improvement in terms of the batsmen. The bowlers did very well, but the team unity is still there."

The Jamaicans have not changed their squad for the match, and coach Gus Logie still believes there are areas in which they can tighten up.

"The mood in the camp is good after our win against Guyana, and we hope to have more strong performances in the remaining matches," he said.

Nash shows improvement

Meanwhile, middle-order batsman Brendan Nash, who suffered a slight hamstring injury in Jamaica's 165-run win over Guyana last weekend, has continued to show improvement and, according to team captain Tamar Lambert, is earmarked to play in today's match.

Speaking shortly after the team's final training session yesterday, Lambert said Nash has been participating well in training sessions since their arrival in Grenada on Tuesday, and judging by the progress he has no doubt that he will be ready for the game.

"He is not 100 per cent, but he is close to that," said Lambert.

Three other matches are due to start today. They are Guyana versus Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago versus CCC, and Barbados vs England Lions.