KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Sports Minister Olivia Grange has hailed the leadership of captain Tamar Lambert in Jamaica’s capture of their fourth straight Regional First Class Championship.
Lambert, who was earlier this year axed from the Twenty20 squad, led Jamaica to the historic four-peat on Saturday when they crushed Combined Campuses and Colleges by eight wickets inside two days of the four-day final at 3Ws Oval.
“What can we say about Tamar’s captaincy, except that the man knows the game and knows how to motivate his team,” Grange said.
She also praised batsman Marlon Samuels who scored heavily in his return to first class cricket following a two-year ban for inappropriate ties to a bookie.
The right-hander amassed 853 runs – the highest by any player in the tournament – including a monumental unbeaten 250 against Guyana in the first round.
“I wish also to praise Marlon Samuels not only for his superb batting in the tournament but for his determination to do well, having been out of competitive cricket for two years,” Grange said.
“His performance and approach make him thoroughly deserving of his recent call up by the West Indies.”
Jamaica finished fourth in the standings after the preliminary round to reach the semi-finals where they played to a controversial no-result with Trinidad and Tobago before reaching the final. With their latest success, Grange said Lambert’s side had to be ranked highly.
“Fantastic. Four years straight. This must qualify the team as the best Jamaican cricket team to date,” she noted.
