DEFENDING champions Jamaica wind up their preparation for the 2000 Red Stripe Bowl limited-over cricket competition with two trial matches at Melbourne Oval today and tomorrow.
The 50-overs-a-side matches will start at 9.30 a.m. each day with the 14-man squad scheduled to be named at the end of the second match.
The teams for both matches will be selected from the following 27 players: Robert Samuels, Leon Garrick, David Bernard Jnr., Brenton Parchment, Keith Hibbert, Gareth Breese, Matthew Sinclair, Wayne Cuff, Tamar Lambert, Carl Wright, Mario Ventura, Delroy Taylor, Carlton Baugh Jnr., Donovan Pagon, Royan Smith, Orlando Baker, Kamal Dennis, Franklyn Rose, Denville McKenzie, Audley Sanson, Dwight Mais, Nehemiah Perry, Brian Murphy, Ryan Cunningham, Bevon Brown, Philip Keating, and Odean Brown.
Ray Stewart, who was also one of the invitees, was injured in a car accident last Saturday and is out of action for six weeks.
James Adams, Laurie Williams, Wavell Hinds and Marlon Samuels who were members of the West Indies team in Kenya for the ICC one-day tournament are available for selection while Christopher Gayle and Ricardo Powell, members of last year's winning team, are in Australia attending a six-week course at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy and will not be available.
Veteran fast bowler Courtney Walsh is not available.
Jamaica, up against Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and the United States of America in Zone A, open the defence of their title against the USA at Kaiser, Discovery Bay, on Wednesday.
The teams in Zone B, to be played in Antigua and Anguilla, are the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands, Guyana, Bermuda and first time entrants, the Cayman Islands.
The top two teams in each zone will contest the semi-finals with the winners meeting in the final.
The semi-finals and final will be played at Sabina Park with the semi-finals set for October 20 and 21 and the final for October 22 with October 23 as the reserve day.
