JAMAICA will be gunning for a fourth successive win when they take on Guyana in the Regional Four-Day Cricket Championship, starting today at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua in a day/night affair.

On the heels of three wins on the trot against the Windward Islands, Barbados and the Leeward Islands at Sabina Park, Jamaican skipper Tamar Lambert and his troops will be brimful of confidence.

However, despite taking on a team in political disarray, the four-time defending champs will have to contend with the class and experience of West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has made a surprise return to the Guyana squad for this fourth-round clash.

Jamaica are ahead in the six-team tournament on 36 points from three matches. The Guyanese team, which has been unable to host matches on home soil due to internal board problems, lies second on 24.

Sarwan has been in and out of the regional squad in recent times through injury but will feature in the 13-man squad to be led by West Indies ‘A’ left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s manager Courtney Francis is confident the team will continue its good streak in the series of away matches which starts today.

“We’re looking to continue doing well. We need to ensure that we come out of the game getting more points than Guyana and that will help to get us into the play-offs (semi-final stage),” Francis told the Observer recently.

“Playing Guyana will be our first away game this season; it will be our first match under (artificial) lights and it will also be our first match using pink balls this season, so those are new variables. It’s more of a mental challenge and we have spoken about it and focused on doing well,” Francis added.

Head coach Junior Bennett, meantime, foresees a competitive match, with Guyana having West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, as well as the left-handed batting pair of Assad Fudadin and Narsingh Deonarine at their disposal.

“There is no question that Guyana is always a tough opponent and they have been playing good cricket since the start of this tournament. They have a good spin attack and there is no questioning the quality of Bishoo and Permaul. Over the years both bowlers have done exceptionally well,” he said.

Jamaica squad — Tamar Lambert (capt), Danza Hyatt, Brenton Parchment, Donovan Pagon, Brendan Nash, Tamar Lambert, David Bernard, Carlton Baugh, Nikita Miller, Andrew Richardson, Odean Brown, Sheldon Cotterell, Simon Jackson, Jamie Merchant.

Guyana Squad — Veerasammy Permaul (captain), Leon Johnson, Assad Fudadin, Trevon Griffith, Narsingh Deonarine, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Royston Crandon, Christopher Barnwell, Derwin Christian, Brandon Bess, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton and Chanderpaul Hemraj.