Confident squad leaves for inaugural Carib T20

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Confident of winning their first regional Twenty20 title, Jamaica's cricketers left the island yesterday en route to Barbados where they will participate in the first round of the inaugural West Indies Cricket Board Caribbean Twenty20 Tournament.

The team, which was earlier this year crowned regional four-day champions for the third year in a row, will be hoping to add the Twenty20 title to their list of achievements, and erase the memories of 2006 and 2007 when they lost out in the final and semi-final of the now defunct Stanford 20/20 Tournament.

"Twenty20 tournaments are generally difficult, given the fact that any player can explode and change the momentum," said captain Tamar Lambert.

"But we have prepared ourselves well, and believe we have what it takes to go all the way this year," he added.

Jamaica, who will open their account tomorrow against the Leeward Islands at Kensington Oval, beginning at 7 p.m. local time, will field one of the strongest teams at the tournament, as only three members of their 14-member squad are yet to represent either the West Indies or West Indies "A".

They are Lambert, left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie and batsman Danza Hyatt.

The team's batting, which is its strength, will be centred around West Indies captain Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Xavier Marshall, Brenton Parchment and Wavell Hinds, while the bowling will be headed by spinners Nikita Miller and Odean Brown, and all-rounders David Bernard Jr and Andre Russell.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Carlton Baugh Jr and pacer Andrew Richardson round out the squad.

Time for change

"We don't play the shorter versions of the sport that well, and our record speaks for itself. However, this is the tournament for us to change that and we will be working extremely hard," said coach Junior Bennett.

Jamaica, who have been drawn in Zone A, will play Canada in their second match on Saturday before closing out their first-round fixture next Wednesday against Trinidad and Tobago.

The Zone winners and runners-up will advance to the semi-final, which will be played at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad.

The tournament's matches will be broadcast live on ESPN, and delayed on regional Caribbean Media Corporation stations.

Squad

Tamar Lambert (capt), Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Danza Hyatt, Xavier Marshall, Brenton Parchment, Wavell Hinds, Carlton Baugh Jr (wicketkeeper), Andre Russell, David Bernard Jr, Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, Andrew Richardson and Krishmar Santokie.