By Anthony Foster, Freelance WriterJAMAICA'S CRICKET selectors yesterday named six players who have never represented the country at senior level, in a 16-member squad for the 2004 regional Carib Beer Cricket Series that is set to start on January 9.
They are St. Elizabeth batsman Shawn Findlay, Tamar Lambert and leg-spinner Odean Brown of St. Catherine Cricket Club, pacers Andrew Richardson of Kingston Cricket Club and Evon McInnis of Westmoreland, along with St. James all-rounder Lorenzo Ingram.
Of the six, two have played at the first-class level before Richardson and Ingram who competed for the West Indies 'B' team last year. However, Findlay, McInnis and Brown have been named in Jamaica squads before, but none of them have ever made the final eleven.
A notable absentee is former wicketkeeper/batsman Matthew Sinclair, while left-arm spinner Ryan Cunningham emerged as the surprise pick in the squad to be led by Gareth Breese.
The experienced players finding favour with the Ruddy Williams-led selection panel are Breese, Donovan Pagon, David Bernard Jnr., Keith Hibbert, Maurice Kepple, Mario Ventura, Ryan Cunningham, Dwight Mais, Daren Powell and Brenton Parchment.
Danza Hyatt, who scored 191 runs with two half centuries, may consider himself unlucky not to have been chosen.
National senior coach, Robert Haynes, believes the selectors including Williams, Lyndel Wright and Courtney Daley made good choices.
"I think it's a very good squad, I think it's a very balanced squad," he said. "I honestly believe that the guys who have been selected really played their part in the trials."
Parchment, who hit just five runs from two innings in the trials, Findlay (49 from four innings) and Bernard (45 runs, three innings) did not score heavily, but in justifying their selection, Haynes said:
"These are players with talent and these are players you are looking to go on to West Indies cricket."
The squad was named at Sabina Park where Saturday's rainfall left the outfield wet and prevented any play on the last day of a JCA practice game between Breese XI and David Bernard Jnr. XI.
Breese's XI, after a first innings score of 347, had scored 151 for one in their second turn at bat on Saturday. Bernard XI had scored 204 in their only inning.
