TEENAGE leg-spinner Akeem Dewar will make his regional four-day debut when Jamaica take on England Lions at Sabina Park today in the final round of matches in the preliminary phase of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) tournament.

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

Dewar, who has represented the West Indies at the Under-19 level, has been drafted into the starting 11 to replace resting wrist-spinner Odean Brown.

Dewar took 4-81 in his lone first-class match against Ireland last April.

Yesterday, Jamaica’s captain Tamar Lambert told the Observer the 19-year-old spinner has done well over the past two seasons in trial matches and added that this game gives him the chance to prove his worth at this level.

“He (Dewar) has been doing well from last season in the trial matches, but since Odean is resting, this is his opportunity to go out there and show the Jamaican public what he can do at the first-class level,” Lambert said.

Opener Brenton Parchment, who is yet to play a game this season, and Odean Brown are the two players omitted from the 13-man squad, while young all-rounder Jermaine Blackwood remains the reserve player.

The rest of the new-look bowling attack comprises young fast bowlers Jason Dawes and Sheldon Cotterell, as well as veteran off-spinner Bevon Brown. They will play in the absence of the injured seam-bowling trio of Jerome Taylor, Andrew Richardson and David Bernard Jr.

Taylor, with 15 wickets at an average of 15.73; Bernard Jr, 14 at 18.00; Richardson, nine at 19.88 and Odean Brown, 22 wickets at 31.40, have led the bowling charge well this season.

However, a combination of injuries and fatigue limited their influence during the Trinidad & Tobago match and forced the selectors to change the line-up.

Lambert said he is not too concerned about facing the formidable-looking England Lions’ batting with a relatively inexperienced bowling attack and asserted that his senior players need the rest.

“Jason and Bevon Brown have been around the Jamaican set-up for some time now, so I’m not concerned because there still is a bit of experience there.

“We have to look at the bigger picture and give the senior players some rest and give the opportunity to the youngsters to show what they’re capable of doing. It’s an inexperienced unit but they should be able to get the job done,” he said.

Since the start of the competition, 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 have been representing the West Indies at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup on the Asian sub-continent.

West Indies 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 been exceptional while scoring three centuries, including an unbeaten double against Guyana in the first round of matches.

Despite not being as dominant in his last two matches, the 30-year-old right-handed batsman has already registered 672 runs at an average of 74.66.

Veteran player Wavell Hinds has also been in good form, amassing 399 runs at 57.00 and showed his appetite for big scores with an authoritative 162 not out against Trinidad & Tobago in the previous round.

Aside from Samuels and Hinds, the batting unit possesses plenty of experience with the likes of Lambert and West Indies vice-captain Brendan Nash.

The invited England Lions team is only allowed 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 at the end of the preliminaries.

The Lions, currently on 48 points, lead the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) and title-holders Jamaica by three points each, with Trinidad & Tobago close behind on 40.

The Windward Islands are fifth on 29 points, while many-time champions Barbados are sixth on 27. The lower section of the table comprises Leeward Islands (19) and Guyana (16).

Lions head coach Mick Newell, who is also director of cricket at County team Nottinghamshire, told the Observer at yesterday’s practice session at Sabina Park he is hoping the pitch has some pace in it.

“Hopefully, it has got some pace in it because we want our players to be tested. We’d love to finish off this tour with a good, hard game.

“Obviously, Jamaica are a very experienced team with a lot of Test players and I’m sure they’d be keen to turn over the England Lions,” he said.

Talented 21-year-old right-hander James Taylor with 444 runs at 63.42, including one century and two half-centuries, has led the way for the Lions and has gotten good support from captain James Hildreth (429 runs) and Craig Kieswetter (389). Jimmy Adams and Andrew Gale have also contributed useful runs.

Added Newell: “The captain Hildreth has made two hundreds and that is important on this tour. We want people to make centuries and Kieswetter has made two as well, so we’re very keen on players making big individual scores because if they want to play for England, that is what is important,” he said.

Left-arm orthodox slow bowler Danny Briggs has been the stand-out bowler during the tournament and has snared 24 wickets at 18.58 apiece.

Jamaica squad — Tamar Lambert (capt), Simon Jackson, Danza Hyatt, Marlon Samuels, Brendan Nash, Wavell Hinds, Chadwick Walton, Akeem Dewar, Jason Dawes, Bevon Brown, Sheldon Cotterell, Brenton Parchment, Odean Brown.

England squad — James Hildreth (capt), Jimmy Adams, James Taylor, Andrew Gale, Craig Kieswetter, Jonny Bairstow, Nathan Buck, Maurice Chambers, Steven Finn, Danny Briggs, James Harris, Adam Lyth, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Andy Carter, Nathan Buck.