DESPITE the Jamaica team finishing fifth at the just-ended Cricket West Indies (CWI) Under-15 Championship in Grenada, there is the view in some quarters to not ring the alarm bells just yet.

The Jamaica Under-15s, guided by Head Coach Philip Service, had just one victory — in their last outing of the tournament against Windward Islands on Friday — to end with 7.8 points.

Barbados, the competition’s only unbeaten team, won the title after compiling 18.4 points. They were followed by Guyana (16.4 points), Leeward Islands (13.4), Trinidad and Tobago (12.4), Jamaica, and last-placed Windward Islands (3.0).

Notably, rainy weather forced CWI organisers to switch the original 50-over format to a tournament featuring matches which were 20-over per side or fewer.

Veteran local youth coach Barry Barnes said the experience gained would have been invaluable for the Under-15 players.

“It’s hard to judge them from this showing because there were certain factors. But I don’t think there’s anything to cry about or be concerned about,” the Manchester High cricket coach told the Jamaica Observer.

“The good thing is that they got an opportunity, and I’m sure we would have seen more from them if they had more opportunity to play. Another good thing is that Jamaica had the best wicketkeeper at the tournament in Pajay Nelson.

“In Jamaica we had a two-year break from cricket because of the COVID-19 pandemic [restrictions]. Player recruitment was limited because we are coming out of COVID-19, and with more time coaches could have improved technical aspects because these boys are learning the art,” Barnes, the chairman of selectors for Jamaica’s Under-19 team, argued.

Service, while noting that the change in playing conditions affected his team, told the Observer the batting fell short. “Our batting disappointed on the tour — it’s really down to the batting. The truth is that we lost games not because we were outplayed,” the experienced coach said.

“I would say that all teams were affected [by the truncated matches], but our team, we just never put it together with the batting — we got some poor starts.

“I’m overall quite satisfied with how we competed in the bowling and field areas, but our batting is what let us down. Still, these tournaments are developmental, so of course, we want to win, but we have to just take the lessons from it,” said the national Under-15 coach.

Jamaica Cricket Association Chief Executive Officer Courtney Francis said the local body did all it could to get the Under-15 players up to scratch though there was a strain caused by preparation of other national teams or franchises during a similar period.

“There were other teams preparing but all the teams got adequate preparation under the circumstances, with resource challenges, accommodation and logistics that we eventually managed,” he explained.

“There is disappointment they finished fifth — the tournament did not go as planned because a lot of changes were made due to the conditions and the weather. It was a challenge because we didn’t prepare for that, you wouldn’t know it would be a shorter version. Otherwise we’d have selected other players,” Francis told the Observer.

“I spoke to the players after they came back [on Monday]. Some said nerves might have also got to them, traveling for the first time and being in a different environment and culture, but they would have learned from that first-hand experience.

“I am hopeful that they have an appreciation of where they are too. Because while they are the best in Jamaica, they are not necessarily anywhere near the best in the region. They are conscious of it and they told me they will put in the work to not just benchmark themselves against their peers in Jamaica,” he added, while insisting that availability of talent in Jamaica was not the reason for the results in Grenada.