SANDY BAY, Hanover — Cricketing puns flowed effortlessly today when incumbent Dave Brown spoke of his opponent, first-time candidate Wavell Hinds after both men were nominated at Sandy Bay Primary School today to contest the Hanover Eastern seat in the September 3 General Election.

Brown, of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is a former wicketkeeper batsman having played cricket for Cornwall College as well as some club cricket. He is seeking his second consecutive term against the former Jamaica and West Indies batsman who played professional cricket for 16 years and is representing the People’s National Party (PNP) in his first foray into representational politics.

A confident sounding Brown said he would double the 340 vote margin by which that he beat the PNP’s Wynter McIntosh in the February 2016 elections, “I will win by 700 votes, at least 700 votes,” he told reporters.

In keeping with the cricket theme, Hinds told the Jamaica Observer that, “The game of cricket it’s a game of glorious uncertainties and in that game of glorious uncertainties all you can do is prepare, prepare yourself and your teammates and when it’s your time to go out and bat make sure you assess the conditions, and deal with that is to come,” he said, “so preparation is important and of most importance is execution, we are looking to execute in Eastern Hanover but I can’t do that without my team, the executive and the constituents who are going to help not just to win an election that I am looking forward to do but also to execute the policies that i will put forward to advance the constituency.”

Hinds, who also played for the West Indies for 11 years, said his profile as a former national and international cricketer has helped in some regards as he is easily recognisable when he is in the parish.

“Some may say I am not a son of the soil as I was born elsewhere,” he said, “but I will say I represented Jamaica, my country in cricket for 16 years at the professional level and three years at the youth level and that is 19 years of national service and when I did that I did not represent the PNP nor did I represented the JLP, I represented Jamaica and that is the attitude I will take in representing Eastern Hanover and representing the people of the constituency and the people of the parish and the country.”

Brown said he hopes to get the chance to continue the work that he started, “I started some road rehabilitation programme as the majority were in disrepair for several decades and I want to continue on that most definitely,” he said, “water is one of the biggest problems in the constituency I would like to continue the Jericho water supply especially phase two, those two major things rest on my mind.”

Brown said also that he was much better prepared now than four years ago and predicted “it will be much easier for me this time”.

Paul Reid