T Becca: Red Stripe - Jamaica search for edge (Oct 8 1997)

October 8, 1997

Red Stripe: Jamaica search for edge

Tony Becca, Senior Sport Editor

CRICKET: The final matches in the round-robin section of Zone A of the Red Stripe Bowl limited over cricket tournament take place today with Jamaica up against Bermuda at Alpart and Trinidad and Tobago tackling the Windward Islands at Melbourne Oval.

Both matches in the 50-over per side contest get underway at 9:30.

The Trinidad and Tobago/Windward Islands match was scheduled for Folly Oval in Port Antonio but has been switched to Melbourne Oval because of the heavy rains which made it impossible to prepare the pitch at Folly.

After two rounds, Jamaica and the Windward Islands, who picked up one point each from their rain-ruined opening-round match, share the lead on three points, followed by Trinidad and Tobago on two and Bermuda on zero.

With the top team in the zone meeting the fourth-placed team and number two going against number three on Saturday in the sudden-death quarter-finals, with number one tipped to get the better of number four, the interest in today's matches is the jostle for positions.

Based on performances to date, that should be quite interesting, for although Jamaica are expected to be too good for Bermuda, such has been the performance of the Jamaica batsmen that Bermuda must fancy their chances of an upset; and although joint leaders Windward Islands are ahead of them in the standings, although they lost to Jamaica who were in trouble at 72 for five chasing the Windwards Islands' 215 for nine, Trinidad and Tobago have the ammunition to defeat the Windward Islands in what should be the feature match.

Looking at the Jamaica/ Bermuda match, it should be easy going for Jamaica - especially as top batsman James Adams, who missed the earlier matches due to an ankle injury, is expected to be in the line-up for today's game.

With or without Adams however, Jamaica's batsmen should come into their own. If they don't, if the likes of Robert Samuels, Leon Garrick, Wavell Hinds, Tony Powell and Delroy Morgan fail against the limited Bermuda attack on a pitch which, as usual, is expected to be good for batting, it would be more than disappointing - it would be embarrassing.

Once Jamaica's batsmen perform, even reasonably, Bermuda should lose and remain at the bottom of the standings - for the simple reason that the home team's attack of Courtney Walsh, Franklyn Rose, Patrick Patterson, Laurie Williams and Nehemiah Perry should be too good for Clay Smith and company.

If Jamaica, as they should, defeat Bermuda, the result, as far as the quarter-final round is concerned, would not matter to Trinidad and Tobago who, win or lose, would be sentenced to play either Jamaica or the Windward Islands.

While victory for Jamaica and victory for Trinidad and Tobago would line up Jamaica versus Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago versus the Windward Islands in the quarter-finals, victory for the Windward Islands would leave them tied with Jamaica at the top of the zone with run rate deciding who gets the better draw in the quarter-finals - who go against bottom placed Bermuda and who go against Trinidad and Tobago.

Looking at both teams, Trinidad and Tobago, with batsmen like Brian Lara, Suruj Ragoonath, Phil Simmons, Richard Smith, Andre Lawrence and Lincoln Roberts, and an attack to come from pacers Ian Bishop, Mervyn Dillon and Nigel Francis, and spinners Rajendra Dhanraj, Kenneth Hazel and Dinanath Ramnarine, are favoured to get the better of the Windward Islands

Source: The Jamaica Gleaner