Progress Park in Grenada’s north-east will be the scene of a battle that will determine Jamaica’s fortunes in a tournament they led up until the last series when they were trounced by Barbados.
Jamaica are nine points behind Barbados in second spot on 48 points and nothing but full points from this final round clash will be enough to see them to their third successive four-day title.
“It’s almost like a final. Everything basically rests on this game and everybody is in very good spirits going into the first day tomorrow,” Jamaica’s technical director Jimmy Adams told CMC Sports yesterday.
“I think that if we play to the best of our ability it is possible [to get an outright win] and I’m looking forward to a positive result come Monday.”
Unbeaten up until the last round in T&T, Jamaica plunged to a disappointing 10-wicket loss to Barbados, putting their title hopes in jeopardy and ensuring the final round held the key to their fortunes.
Barbados, on 57 points, have a bye this round and will sit at home watching with keen interest.
Entering the contest Jamaica will be buoyed by the fact they have beaten T&T in two of their last three meetings, with one encounter finishing in a stalemate.
Their batting has wobbled in the last two series of matches but Adams said they were not dwelling on the past.
“Worrying about anything doesn’t help to solve it. It (batting) has been a concern but all the players are really looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow,” the former West Indies captain stressed.
“It’s another opportunity for batsmen to score runs and for bowlers to take wickets. I think we’ve tried to create an atmosphere where we’ve tried to look forward instead of dwelling on what has gone behind.
SQUADS (from):
JAMAICA – Tamar Lambert (captain), Carlton Baugh Jr, Horace Miller, Nkrumah Bonner, Bevon Brown, Odean Brown, John Ross Campbell, Jason Dawes, Danza Hyatt, Donovan Pagon, Brenton Parchment, Andrew Richardson, Andre Russell.
T&T – Daren Ganga (captain), Jason Mohammed, Daron Cruickshank, Gibran Mohammed, Navin Stewart, Justin Guillen, Sherwin Ganga, William Perkins, Kervon Cooper, Amit Jaggernauth, Shannon Gabriel, Sunil Narine, Imran Khan.
