REIGNING champions Jamaica will square-off with a youthful Guyana team at Alpart Sports Club in St Elizabeth in today’s opening round of matches in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional four-day tournament.

The game is scheduled to start at 10:00 am.

Other matches starting today will see Leeward Islands hosting the invited England Lions team, the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) facing the Windward Islands and Trinidad & Tobago entertaining last season’s runners-up Barbados.

Jamaica’s coach Augustine ‘Gus’ Logie declared that his entire 13-man squad is fit and raring to go in the tournament opener.

“All the players are fit and waiting to start off the tournament against Guyana. There are high expectations and I expect them to be looking for the chance to execute well,” said the former West Indies middle-order batsman.

“They have been playing and doing well in this format for some time and they know that patience is the key. These players are well equipped for the four-day game,” Logie added.

The Alpart pitch has a reputation for pace and bounce, though spinners have also done very well there. Logie claimed yesterday he had the bowlers to exploit the situation regardless of the conditions.

“We have gotten information that the pitch is expected to favour fastbowling, but with the squad composition that we have, I think we’re adequately prepared for whatever comes,” he told the Observer.

The Jamaicans can rely on pacers Jerome Taylor, who is returning from injury; the exciting left-armer Sheldon Cotterell, who will be on first-class debut, should he be named in the XI; Andrew Richardson and David Bernard Jr, while the spin department consists of Odean and Bevon Brown, as well as skipper Tamar Lambert with his part-time offspin.

Even without Chris Gayle, who is in Sri Lanka on West Indies duty, the batting is arguably more imposing with the likes of Wavell Hinds, Brendan Nash, Marlon Samuels and Danza Hyatt in the squad.

Opener Simon Jackson will be hoping for his first game at regional first-class level for Jamaica, while wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton — who has stood behind the stumps for CCC in recent years — will now do service for his country in the absence of Carlton Baugh who is on West Indies duty in Sri Lanka.

The Guyanese, who arrived in the island on Tuesday, are without experienced batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine, Sewnarine Chattergoon and Travis Dowlin.

Chanderpaul and Sarwan, like Gayle, are representing the regional team, while Deonarine and Chattergoon are injured. Dowlin, who has endured poor form with the bat in recent times, was not picked.

Batting responsibility will fall heavily on captain and former West Indies Under-19 player Assad Fudadin and silky right-hander Rajendra Chandrika.

Young fastbowling sensation Brandon Bess and the experienced Esuan Crandon, along with spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo, are likely threats with the ball.

Guyana team manager Carl Moore conceded that facing the Jamaicans first-up will be an uphill task for his inexperienced players.

“It’s a tough way to start, having to play Jamaica, but it’s a good chance for the youngsters to step up and show their wares,” he told the Observer yesterday.

“This is a year when we may surprise a lot of people. The fitness generally has been good because most of the players have been training since the Twenty20 camp and I can say that we have a fit team,” Moore said.

He added that practice sessions at Sabina Park and Kensington Park have gone a far way in getting his team ready for today’s clash.

“We’ve had good practice sessions since we arrived here and we’ve had no issues with injury. I can say we’re more ready than when we just landed here. The coach has been working hard and both the bowlers and the batsmen have looked good,” he said.

Asked about his team’s ability to effectively play fastbowling, Moore countered by saying the Jamaicans will have to cope with the Guyanese fastbowlers.

“We also have plenty experience in Crandon, and we have Brandon Bess, who played a Test match for West Indies last year, and there is also (Ronsford) Beaton,” he said.

When both teams met last season, Guyanese lost by an innings and 27 runs and the Jamaicans went on to win their third consecutive title in the four-day format.

Guyana were left to rue another disappointing four-day campaign after finishing sixth in the seven-team tournament.

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

Guyana squad — Assad Fudadin (capt), Devendra Bishoo, Vishal Arjune, Shemroy Barrington, Rajendra Chandrika, Leon Johnson, Royston Crandon, Esuan Crandon, Derwin Christian, Ronsford Beaton, Veerasammy Permaul, Steven Jacobs, Brandon Bess.