By Tony Becca, Contributing EditorTHE REGIONAL Carib Beer cricket series enters its third round today with Jamaica up against Barbados in the feature match at Sabina Park.
Although feature presentations are some times disappointing, this one, despite the absence of many stars from either side, should be action-packed from start to finish.
One reason for the promise is that with both teams usually producing attacking batsmen and genuinely fast bowlers, Barbados versus Jamaica seldom fails to provide exciting action; another is the rivalry between the two teams over the years; and most importantly, certainly as far as Jamaica are concerned, one is the present positions of the teams in the race for the Cup and for a place in the semi-finals of the International Challenge Trophy.
VICTORIES
With two easy victories in the bag, one over Guyana and the other against the Windward Islands, Barbados, the defending champions of both the Cup and the International Challenge Trophy, lead the standings with maximum 24 points, after dropping first innings points to the Windward Islands and defeating Guyana, Jamaica are in third place with 15 points, and although there are four more rounds to come after this, it could be curtains for Jamaica if they lose as they did at Kensington Oval in the final of the International Challenge last year, or if they fail to pocket first innings points - as they did in Crab Hill, St. Lucy, in the preliminary rounds.
Victory for Barbados would push them to 36 points, defeat for Jamaica would leave them on 15, the lead would then be 21 points, and as far as winning the Cup is concerned, that would be difficult, very difficult, for Jamaica.
HOME SOIL
This match, however, will be played on home soil, on their way to winning the Cup (the Busta Cup) in 2002, Jamaica routed Barbados for 179 and 133 to win by an innings and 39 runs, and even if it is not by such a decisive margin, they are confident that they can nail them again.
The first move, however, is with the selectors.
With batsman Donovan Pagon and fast bowler Daren Powell failing fitness tests, offspinner Nehemiah Perry still injured and out of action, wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh Jnr. not at the morning's training session after returning home on Wednesday evening, and with fast bowler Jerome Taylor fit and ready, the selectors yesterday named Gareth Breese, Brenton Parchment, David Bernard Jnr., Tamar Lambert, Mario Ventura, Lorenzo Ingram, Maurice Kepple, Keith Hibbert, Andrew Richardson, Evon McInnis, Ryan Cunningham and Odean Brown in the squad from which the XI will be selected.
From the team that played against Guyana, Ingram looks a good bet to replace Pagon, Taylor, obviously, will be in for Perry, and the selectors problem, if they have one, should not be whether to include right-arm legspinner Brown, but whether to go in with three fast bowlers or another batsman - whether to leave out McInnis and include Kepple.
Chances are that with Bernard's medium-pace available to support Taylor and Richardson, the selectors will go for Kepple in a bid to strengthen the batting.
If that is what the selectors do, it would be a nicely balanced team with the batting going down to number eight, and with captain Breese having on call two fast bowlers in Taylor and Richardson, one medium-pacer in Bernard Jnr., one offspinner in himself, and two left-arm spinners - one in Cunningham and one in Ingram.
BOWLING
That bowling should be good enough to deal with Sherwin Campbell, Martin Nurse, Ryan Hinds, captain Courtney Browne and, as good as he is, also Floyd Reifer.
As many as they are, however, Jamaica's batsmen will have to be in the pink of form to deal not only with the left-arm spin of Sulieman Benn, but also the swing of left-arm pacer Pedro Collins, and the pace of Tino Best who demolished the Windward Islands with figures of four for 33 and seven for 33.
