Taylor returns for Ja-T&T clash

BY SANJAY MYERS Observer staff reporter

Friday, March 18, 2011

LEADERS Jamaica will welcome back ace fast bowler Jerome Taylor for today's encounter against Trinidad & Tobago at Sabina Park in the penultimate round of the preliminary phase of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional four-day tournament.

Taylor, who has been in fine form since recovering from back and hip-related injuries suffered in 2009 and 2010, missed the last two matches due to a death in his family.

Today's game is scheduled to start at 10:00 am.

Jamaica's coach Augustine Logie, a former West Indies and Trinidad & Tobago batsman, told the Observer yesterday the attack will be stronger with Taylor's inclusion, but warned against taking his countrymen lightly.

"Obviously when you have a player with Taylor's experience and skill in the team it will provide a boost. He is the spearhead of the attack and his participation is a motivation to the other players so we hope he continues his progress.

"We take no team lightly, so we plan, prepare and look to go out there and execute. I see this match the same as if we were playing any other team. We want to play good cricket with the batsmen continuing to score heavily and we want the bowlers to take wickets," Logie said.

This four-day season Jamaica have been without former West Indies captain Chris Gayle, fast bowling all-rounder Andre Russell and left-arm orthodox spinner Nikita Miller.

All three are representing the West Indies at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup on the Asian sub-continent.

Wicketkeeper/batsman Carlton Baugh Jr is still recovering from injury and is also out.

In their absence, Marlon Samuels, playing his first four-day tournament since a two-year ban from cricket, has shone brightly with three centuries, including an unbeaten double against Guyana in the first round of matches.

The 30 year-old right-handed batsman has already amassed a staggering 608 runs at an average of 86.85.

Aside from Samuels, the batting unit possesses plenty of experience with the likes of captain Tamar Lambert, Wavell Hinds, Brendan Nash and Danza Hyatt.

Leg-spinner Odean Brown and Taylor have topped the bowling charts for the Jamaicans with 21 and 14 wickets, respectively. Powerfully-built pacer Andrew Richardson has shown glimpses of good form in recent matches and could also be a handful for the T&T batsmen.

When both teams met last season, Jamaica romped to an innings-and-72-run victory and consequently sealed the title for the third straight season, while T&T laboured to fourth in the seven-team tournament.

Speaking to the Observer at the Knutsford Court Hotel on Tuesday, coach Kelvin Williams said he is keen on beating Jamaica, but conceded his Caribbean rivals have dominated recent matches.

The visitors are without the Bravo brothers, Dwayne and Darren, opener Adrian Barath, the hard-hitting batsman Kieron Pollard and seamer Ravi Rampaul.

Captain and senior batsman Daren Ganga, with a total of 375 runs, and his younger brother, Sherwin, with 244, currently lead the way for T&T this season, while a lot is also expected from Llendl Simmons and wicketkeeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin.

In the bowling department, surprisingly it has been the pace men who have dominated the wickets column so far, with Rayad Emrit and Shannon Gabriel tallying 19 and 18, respectively.

However, the Trinidadians can still choose from wrist spinners Imran Khan and Yannic Cariah, as well as off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth.

Williams noted that the batting has fallen short in previous matches but praised his faster bowlers for taking up the mantle.

"We have been bowling out teams but the batting hasn't given us the runs that we wanted. The seamers have been doing very well and taking some wickets so it's a bit different than in previous years when we relied more on the spinners," he said.

Defeated by 29 runs by the Leeward Islands in the previous round, T&T were also shocked by the arrest of middle-order batsman Runako Morton.

Morton and Leeward Islands all-rounder Tonito Willett were arrested by police in Port-of-Spain on charges of marijuana possession during the four-day match last weekend.

Jamaica, currently on 39 points, lead Trinidad & Tobago by two points, with the invited England Lions team following close behind on 36.

The Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) are fourth on 33 points, while the Windward Islands are fifth on 29.

The England Lions are only scheduled to participate in the league phase, which means the top four Caribbean-based teams will progress to the semi-finals.

Home advantage for the semi-final and final matches will be based on the teams' rankings after the preliminaries.

Jamaica squad — Tamar Lambert (capt), Simon Jackson, Danza Hyatt, Marlon Samuels, Brendan Nash, Wavell Hinds, David Bernard Jr, Chadwick Walton, Jerome Taylor, Odean Brown, Andrew Richardson, Bevon Brown, Sheldon Cotterell.

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Taylor returns for Ja-T&T clash