AMBITIOUS swing bowler Krishmar Santokie is eyeing a call-up to either the West Indies ‘A’ or senior team following his impressive performances in the inaugural Caribbean Twenty20 tournament last month.

According to the left-armer, a disciplined training regime has catapulted him into the spotlight and his aim is to grab the attention of the regional selectors.

“For me, it’s good that I can be classed as one of the better bowlers in Jamaica. The hard work has paid off… and I just want to keep doing well and hope that in doing so I can get a West Indies call-up.

“With the Sri Lankan tour coming up in November, I want to give another good account of myself to give the selectors something to think about,” Santokie told the Sunday Observer.

Though he has been on the periphery of the national set-up for a couple of years, Santokie has been chiming in with stellar performances since the start of the year.

After dominating the latter part of the Jamaica Cricket Festival earlier this year, he put his stamp on the regional T20 staged in Barbados and Trinidad and finished as the country’s standout performer.

The 25-year-old finished with 10 wickets from five outings, including a career-best 5-24 off four overs in the group stage loss to the Trinis. Santokie was again let down by his teammates — this time in the semi-final against the Bajans — as his tight spell of 2-13 could not secure the win.

Only Guyana’s Lennox Cush (11) took more wickets during the tournament, while Santokie’s unerring accuracy was epitomised by the fact that as many as half of his victims were clean-bowled.

The former Glenmuir High student believes his accuracy and shrewd variation helped Jamaica to restrict opposition teams.

“Most of the deliveries I bowled were in the right areas, so not a lot of runs were scored against me, which shows I was bowling well. The percentage of the execution I would rate at about 90. In the last three games or so it was raining a lot, so with the ball wet it was difficult to swing and to control, but I held my own.

“I think it was a good bowling performance, especially against Trinidad (in the group stage). I just told myself that I had to get out those batsmen if I wanted to win the game,” he said.

While Jamaica finished a disappointing fourth at the tournament, Guyana went on to win the title and are sole representatives from the region in the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa next month.

Santokie said working with national coach Junior Bennett and physical trainer David Bernard Snr has helped his development over the years.

“Knowing Junior Bennett and David Bernard for a long time has helped me a lot. I just want them to continue to support me as much as they can. It has always been a learning process for me, so anything I need to do they always say it to me,” he said.

The Clarendon native said he is setting his sights on the regional 50-over tournament to be held in October later this year.

“The 50-over tournament is what I’m looking forward to now. I have to keep working hard and keep getting wickets because it makes no sense to have one good season and then after that all the hard work is gone to waste,” Santokie said.

“I am still practising and doing my running and gym work. We have a few weeks before any more training for Jamaica and I have to put in work now so when that time comes I can fit right in,” he added.