Tony BeccaTHE race for honours in all three sections of the Rothmans National Cricket Championship is hotting up and from all appearances it should be a glorious finish on the weekend of May 19.
In the Surrey Senior Cup, Lucas, on 25 points from five matches, boast a three-point lead with a match in hand over Kingston CC, nine points over third-placed Melbourne, and nine points and a match in hand over Police who are tied with Melbourne on 16 points.
In the Middlesex Senior Cup, St. Catherine are out in front on 18 points from six matches - five points ahead of Manchester who have played only four matches; and in the Cornwall Senior Cup, the race is between St. Elizabeth on 14 from five, Trelawny on 13 from five, and Westmoreland, who suffered a no-point abandoned match, on 13 from six.
The most inriguing of the contests, however, is in Surrey.
Winners of the Surrey Cup and the national title in 1999, Lucas, with four victories and one first innings loss, are storming ahead, and the feeling at Nelson Oval is that they will finish on top.
It won't be easy, however. Kingston CC and defending champions Melbourne are still in the race, and certainly as far as Kingston are concerned, it may only be a matter of time before they pull level.
It won't be easy because Lucas have already played four of the traditionally weaker teams in Lucas, Portland, Tivoli, and St. Thomas, while Kingston and Melbourne, apart from playing each other in a one-point stalemate, have already played most of the strong teams.
What that means is that although they have Boys' Town to come, Lucas, who dropped first innings points to Melbourne, are still to play traditionally strong teams like Jamaica Defence Force, Kensington, St. Catherine CC and Kingston themselves while Kingston are still to play St. Thomas, Police, and Portland, Melbourne still to play Portland, Tivoli and St. Thomas.
Do Lucas really have anything to worry about? They certainly do - especially as far as Kingston are concerned.
Although Melbourne, because of their batting, must be tipped to win first innings points in their five remaining matches, their bowling is so weak that even though they should win some they may not win enough to really pressure Lucas.
Apart from boasting a strong batting line-up, however, Kingston also have a strong bowling attack - one good enough to destroy St. Thomas, Police and Portland twice, and Lucas even once.
The "Tigers" have on call pacer Audley Sanson, offspinner Nehemiah Perry, left-arm spinner Ryan Cunningham, and right-arm legspinner Kerry Scott. On top of that, they can also call on James Adams and Ricardo Powell for some more than useful left-arm spin and offspin.
On May 19 and 20, it will be Lucas versus Boys' Town, Kingston against St. Thomas, and Melbourne versus Portland, but with all three teams expecting to win, the finish could be an anti-climax.
The decider, as the Jamaica Cricket Board of Control probably wanted it to be before the final of the Busta International Shield spoiled their plans when they were forced to put back the fourth round of matches until after the scheduled last round, may, however, be the weekend before that when Melbourne tackle Kensington at Melbourne Oval, and when Lucas host Kingston at Nelson Oval.
