Richard Bryan, Freelance Writer
Andre McCarty
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Holmwood Technical and St. Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) put their perennial season expectations on the line when they clash in the Grace/ISSA sponsored Headley Cup final at Alpart, starting this morning at 10:00 a.m.
Action is scheduled for three days and invovles two innings play, where advantage on the first or an outright win will decide the 2006 champions.
Both camps are headed by coaches with strong reputations, who were understandably cautious about predictions, but nonetheless confident that by playing "good cricket" their charges can celebrate at the end.
The two teams met earlier this season with STETHS having the better of the contest. But Holmwood under Robert Lewis has had the better of the championship conquests in the last three years and has hinted of a shift in the balance of dominance created by the STETHS teams of the 1980s.
If batting is the main ploy, then it is Holmwood that should fare better, having the depth on paper with Marlon Johnson, Ziggy Levy, Andre McCarty and star of the regional Under-15 championship, Andre Creary.
That quartet would have to give way, providing the top man at STETHS, Damion Ebanks, a new invitee to the Jamaica senior squad preparing for the Sanford 20/20, performs near to potential. A left hander in the mould of former STETHS batsman Nigel 'Pump-kin'Kennedy, Ebanks, nicknamed 'Daddy Man', looks the more organised schoolboy and has shown good consistent form at the top of the order for St. Elizabeth in the Super Cup.
Either team has shown no distinct strength in the fast bowling department hence there is likely to be a dependence on spin, given the history of the Alpart wicket, the fact that cricket was played there on the weekend, and perhaps primarily, because schoolboys tend to lack the patience and skill to play it effectively.
