KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica Scorpions head coach Andre Coley says his side will need bigger totals and more significant partnerships to play catch-up when the West Indies Championship resumes next and move from the bottom of six-franchise standings.
Speaking ahead of the team’s May 18 clash with Windward Islands Volcanoes when the third round of the marquee regional four-day tournament bowls off, he acknowledged their underperformance in the first two rounds.
Scorpions ended the second round on 8.8 points after losing by 10 wickets against Barbados Pride.
“We are looking for more consistency, especially from our batting. Our bowlers had a fair amount of work to do [in the last rounds]. The key and what we want to focus on is going deeper, so not only getting that start but transferring and translating that into bigger scores and bigger team partnerships and actually spending time,” Coley said.
Reflecting on the second-round match in which Barbados Pride put a mammoth 521 runs on the board in their first innings, the head coach said that loss was a result of complacency.
The final scores from that match were Jamaica Scorpions 328 and 233, Barbados Pride 521-8 declared, and 42-0.
Asked what needs to be done to avoid a repeat, Coley said the team would need to “manage the momentum shifts within the game”.
“It is really to make sure that as a team we are not taking anything for granted and our standards and our expectations are higher and [we are] not easily satisfied,” he said.
The John Campbell-captained team will get a boost with Brandon King now available and top wicketkeeper Aldaine Thomas back in the squad.
Their match against Volcanoes is set for the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad.
Jamaica Scorpions Full Squad: John Campbell (Captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Jermaine Blackwood, Leroy Lugg, Oraine Williams, Aldaine Thomas, Gordon Bryan, Paul Palmer Jr., Jamie Merchant, Marquino Mindley, Nicholson Gordon, Derval Green, Patrick Harty, Kirk McKenzie, Brandon King.
