FLORENCE HALL, Jamaica — Damion Jacobs said there is no magic formula or secret to his success in the first unofficial Test against Sri Lanka ‘A’ at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium last week.

The West Indies ‘A’ leg-spinner earned the Player-of-the-Match award following a haul of six wickets in the Sri Lankans’ second innings. His effort propelled the hosts to an innings and 13-run victory in the weather-affected four-day match which ended on Saturday.

The hometown boy finished the match with 8-60 as Sri Lanka “A” were bowled out for totals of 212 and 139 — following on — in the match.

“It was good reward for the hard work that I have been putting in over the last 12 to 16 months,” said Jacobs.

“It was all about knowing my role, knowing when to attack, knowing when to be defensive, understanding the conditions, and doing whatever the captain wanted me to do at any point in time in the match.

“I have taken a lot of confidence from it. I have been bowling well for the last 12 months or so. I also bowled well in a tour match last year against Pakistan and they are also a side that handles the spin well, so it shows that the hard work that I have put in is beginning to pay off,” the Jamaican continued.

He said that playing on home soil gave them an edge against the Sri Lanka batsmen who are traditionally strong against slow bowling.

“I think home advantage played a part and we adapted more quickly to the conditions than they did. It was not altogether favourable for spin bowling due to the rain that fell during the game, but I still had a job to do. It stayed dry enough, long enough, for me to make the most of it.

“They are very attacking against the spinners. They try to take charge of the spinners as quickly as possible, so as a spinner it was important to hold my ground and don’t try too much. As a leg-spinner, however, it’s always a great battle when you have batsmen willing to come after you, but it is my intention to be successful. I know they will try to be aggressive again in the second match and I will have to be prepared for it.

“We have to be consistent. There is no other way to do it. We batted pretty well in the first game and we bowled pretty well. We have got to come and do it again — and better. We just have to stick to the game plan and continue to work hard. Many of us were in Sri Lanka last year when we lost that ‘Test’ series. We know what it felt like to lose and we don’t want to have that feeling again,” Jacobs explained.

The second ‘Test’ is slated to begin tomorrow.