Bennett

Head coach of defending regional league champions Jamaica, Junior Bennett, praised the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) move to extend the regional four-day competition from one round to two, saying it was long overdue and was in the best interest of regional cricket.

"It is something the players have been looking forward to for a long time. It's a welcome move," said Bennett, who last season guided Jamaica to three of the four available regional senior titles - four-day championship, four-day challenge shield, and one-day championship. The team lost the final of the 20-20 championship.

"It is not a one-off situation to change the fortunes of West Indies cricket, but a step in the right direction as it gives players more opportunity. A player can come out and plan a good season around X or Y amount of games," Bennett added.

Bennett also said he did not necessarily think the move was a response to West Indies' coach, Australian John Dyson, who called for more first-class cricket to be played in the region to properly expose players and equip them with the skills necessary to perform at the international level.

"We don't even have to look at what Dyson said," noted Bennett. "People have been saying over the years that the first-class season was too short. I think in 2004 or 2005 we played two rounds, but went back to one round. So it's long before Dyson people have been calling for two rounds."

The new format, which will see the six island teams and a Combined Colleges and Campuses aggregation competing over 12 weekends, will begin on January 9 and will run concurrently with the England tour of the Caribbean.

Jamaica's team, which will be led by Tamar Lambert and includes the recalled Wavell Hinds and debutantes pacer Jason Dawes, leg-spinner Gavin Wallace and opener Horace Miller, will open the defence of their crown on January 9 against the Leeward Islands in St Kitts.