Jamaica hunt four in a row

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Surprise finalists Combined Campuses and Colleges will seek to make history while denying powerful Jamaica their fourth straight title, in the final of the Regional First Class Championship starting here today.

At the start of the season, CCC, who have never won a regional title, would not have been among the bookmakers favourites to reach this far but have defied the odds with excellent cricket to shock the doubters.

Under the leadership of opener Omar Phillips, CCC were good enough to finish on top of the standings with 57 points at the end of preliminary round and stake a claim in the semi-finals where they clobbered Windward Islands inside three days last week.

On the back of these impressive outings, Phillips told CMC Sports his side was geed up for the contest but were well aware Jamaica would be extremely tough opponents.

eager to go

"The guys are really eager to go. We're very upbeat at this moment. We had a good week, a good day of training and the guys are really looking forward to the final," said the 24-year-old left-hander, who played two Tests for West Indies during the bitter players strike two years ago.

"It was a good win against Windwards but we're playing against a tougher opposition in Jamaica, the defending champions, so it will be a tougher task, but I don't think the guys will get complacent playing against them."

When the two teams met in the preliminary round in Spanish Town last month, the match finished in a draw with CCC emerging with first innings points.

And while Phillips acknowledged the performance, he said they were not focussing on it as a final presented different challenges.

"I don't think the guys are going to dwell on the past. We played well in that game, but this is a final now and everybody is going to be eager and willing to come out on top, so this is a different setting," he stressed.

CCC have been led by batsman Kyle Corbin who has compiled 571 runs with support from opener Romel Currency (410) and all-rounder Nkrumah Bonner (388).

Their attack has centred around off-spinner Ryan Austin who has taken 39 wickets and left-arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh (37), while fast bowler Carlos Brathwaite (26) has led the seamers.

Jamaica, meanwhile, have repeated their dominance of previous years and will be heavily favoured to win the contest at the 3Ws Oval of the UWI Cave Hill Campus.

Unbeaten for the season, they finished fourth in the standings to reach the semi-final where they played to a controversial no-decision with Trinidad and Tobago, after batting for nearly 2-1/2 days to shut the Trinidadians out of the game.

Acknowledging that CCC were a tricky side, captain Tamar Lambert said his charges were taking nothing for granted against the hosts.

"It's going to be a good game. CCC got the better of us in the preliminary round back home in Jamaica," the right-handed batsman told CMC Sports.

"They've been pushing us for a number of years now and a number of games have been close. At the end of the day, it is who plays the best four days of cricket that will come out on top."

Jamaica will rely heavily on their strong batting which has already seen three players pass the 600-run mark.

Marlon Samuels who was recalled to the West Indies Twenty20 squad on Wednesday has plundered 830 runs in his comeback season while Test left-hander Brendan Nash (626) and veteran Wavell Hinds (611) have been in superb form.

Their bowling, beset by injuries to key players, has struggled and Lambert said this was where Jamaica were hoping to improve.

"They're a lot of persons who have got over 600 runs and some others 400-odd so the batting has been consistent," said Lambert, who has scored 371 runs.

"We have struggled to bowl out teams twice and get 20 wickets, so that is something we are working on in the nets. Hopefully, over the next four days, we can go out there and enjoy the game."

The two teams are playing for the Headley/Weekes Trophy.