Jamaica fall short

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

A torrid spell of bowling from 23-year-old Barbadian fast bowler, Kevin McCLean, yesterday propelled the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) to first-innings honours over Jamaica in their West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Four-day Tournament clash at Chedwin Park.

The slender McClean, who is a graduate of the recently established WICB/Sagicor High Performance Centre and bowls in a similar style and manner to that of Jamaican pacer Jerome Taylor, demonstrated controlled pace and wizardry to claim five for 79 to restrict Jamaica to 341 - 13 runs shy of the CCC's first-innings total of 353.

McClean's effort also earned him the Man of the Match award.

The CCC, which entered the contest in fourth position, maintained their position after claiming six points from the encounter, while Jamaica, who started as leaders, kept their place at the top of the standings after claiming three points.

"The result is disappointing. However, after taking all things into consideration, I thought we did well to get close to what I thought was a good first-innings total," said Jamaica's captain, Tamar Lambert.

"We now just have to pick ourselves up and focus on our next game against Trinidad and Tobago where we will be hoping to perform much better as we seek to not only qualify for the semi-finals, but also host one of the games by virtue of finishing first or second in the preliminary round."

Resuming on 133 for three and needing another 221 runs to claim first-innings honours, Jamaica started the day badly, losing overnight batsman Brendan Nash off the bowling of McClean for 19 with the score on 139.

This then brought to the crease all-rounder David Bernard Jr, but with the score on 148, the fiery McClean struck again, this time trapping Lambert leg before wicket for 20.

With 206 needed, Bernard Jr and wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton then shared a 76-run sixth-wicket partnership that was ended when the former was caught at slip off lanky off-spinner Ryan Austin for 36, with the score on 224.

Partnership

Jamaica's leading batsman last season, Wavell Hinds, joined Walton and added 87 runs before Walton became McClean's fourth victim when he was caught in the slips for 51 with the score on 311 - 53 runs adrift.

Everything was then left up to Hinds and the bowlers on what had now fully become a flat, two-paced fourth-day pitch, and with the left-hander needing a partner who could virtually hold an end, the Jamaican contingent sent out fast bowler Andrew Richardson instead of regular number nine batsman, Odean Brown.

The move then seemed to be paying dividends as together, the pair added 20 runs until Hinds was caught at first slip by player-coach Floyd Reifer for a top score 74, with the score on 331, and the end came swiftly.

"We are more than delighted with the result," said a smiling Reifer. "Before now, we had only beaten Jamaica in Twenty20 cricket."

Points standing: 1. Jamaica 39 points, 2. Trinidad & Tobago 37, 3. England Lions 36, 4. CCC 33, 5. Windward Islands 29, 6. Guyana 16, 7. Leeward Islands 15, 8. Barbados 15.

SCOREBOARD

CCC 1st Innings 353

JAMAICA 1st Innings

(overnight 133 for three)

S Jackson c Austin by McClean 25D Hyatt b Austin 53M Samuels b Kantasingh 13B Nash not out 14T Lambert not out 12W Hinds c Reifer b Austin 74D Bernard c Reifer b Austin 36+C Walton c Phillips b McClean 51A Richardson c Currency b McClean 6O Brown c wkp Corbin b Kantasingh 0J Dawes not out 8Extras (b12, lb2, nb22) 36

TOTAL (all out, 111 overs) 341

Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-74, 3-110, 4-139, 5-148, 6-224, 7-311, 8-331, 9-331, 10-341

To bat: W Hinds, D Bernard Jr, +C Walton, O Brown, A Richardson, J Dawes.

Bowling: McClean 24-3-79-5, Brathwaite 16-4-60-0, Kantasingh 31-11-79-2, Austin 23-3-53-3, Bonner 17-1-56-0.

Result: Draw.

Points: CCC 6, Jamaica 3.

Toss: Jamaica.

Umpired: Norman Malcolm, Joel Wilson.