Jamaica’s head coach Junior Bennett is pleased with the progress of the national squad as preparations continue for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Caribbean Twenty20 (CT20) tournament to be jointly held in Trinidad & Tobago and St Lucia next January.

Bennett, who is hoping for favourable weather for the remainder of the year, said the standard of the practice sessions held so far have been satisfactory.

“I’m satisfied so far with the few sessions we have had. We hope the weather will be kind to us so that the allotted days we can really get in some work,” he told the Jamaica Observer after the team trained at Sabina Park last Thursday.

The former national youth coach, who has overseen successful four-day and 50-overs campaigns at the senior level, said one major weakness being worked on is to increase the number of deliveries that bastmen score off.

“One of the concerns in our T20 cricket is the number of dot balls and that’s an area we are working to correct. We want to limit the number of dot balls we face.

“We have been doing that in training and will be simulating those kind of situations in matches that we will have in training,” he said.

The holders of four straight four-day titles, Jamaica have never won a regional T20 title, but showed an improved awareness of the shorter versions of the game to seal the 2011 Super50 championship.

The winners of the CT20 will automatically represent the region at the lucrative Champions League cricket showpiece in late 2013.

The Tamar Lambert-led Jamaica team will be without marquee batsmen Christopher Gayle and Marlon Samuels for the January 6-20 regional showpiece because both are contracted to be engaged in the Australian Big Bash T20 tournament.

Wicketkeeper/batsman Carlton Baugh was not considered by the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) selection panel due to him not representing club team Melbourne in the local T20 competition.

Baugh’s usual deputy, Chadwick Walton, opted to play for the Combined Campuses and Colleges, which meant young gloveman Aldane Thomas was drafted in.

Squad — Tamar Lambert (captain), David Bernard (vice-captain), Nkrumah Bonner, John Campbell, Danza Hyatt, Andre Russell, Aldane Thomas, Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, Sheldon Cotterell, Krishmar Santokie, Jamie Merchant, Yannick Elliott, Andre McCarthy.