After losing their respective opening-round matches, Jamaica Scorpions and Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) enter Wednesday’s start of round two action eager for victory to kick-start this season’s regional four-day campaign.

Last week, the Scorpions slumped to a nine-wicket defeat to Windward Islands Volcanoes inside three days at Sabina Park in Kingston.

The Robert Samuels-coached CCC outfit lost by the same margin to Barbados Pride in their encounter at Chedwin Park in St Catherine. That match also ended inside three days after the first day was abandoned due to severe saturation in an area of the outfield where a sprinkler hose was said to have been inadvertently left on overnight.

Scorpions Head Coach Andrew Richardson said that against the CCC at Sabina Park his team will have to reverse the batting frailties which were exposed last week when they made 159 and 234 against the Volcanoes’ 341 and 55-1.

“The top four batters just didn’t spend enough time in the middle. If they did they would have given the middle order a little more chance to play their roles. It’s just a matter of [using] a tactical approach to the new ball. We did some work on that this week, and hopefully, it can bear fruit coming into this game,” he told journalists on the eve of the match versus CCC.

The batting was not his only concern from that contest.

“Especially on day one we [the bowlers] looked anxious and we didn’t give our plans a chance to work. We bowled as if we wanted to take a wicket every ball, we wanted to get people out. That can happen at the start of a season — but we settled into the game. But we were so far behind on the first day… it’s tough to be chasing a game for two to three days and that’s the position we put ourselves in,” Richardson said.

He said the bowling unit will get a boost from the addition of fast bowler Ojay Shields who has been declared fit to make the squad after missing out while recovering from a knee injury.

“We know what Ojay brings — he bowls with an extra yard of pace and we know that if someone who bowls at his pace manages to get it right he can be a handful,” the Scorpions coach explained.

The Volcanoes, who were runners-up last season, lead the eight-team table with 21.4 points, ahead of Barbados Pride (19), West Indies Academy (17.4), Leeward Islands Hurricanes (5.6), title holders Guyana Harpy Eagles (4.4), Scorpions (4.4), Trinidad and Tobago Red Force (3) and CCC (3).

Squads: Scorpions — Jermaine Blackwood (captain), Marquino Mindley, Carlos Brown, Kirk McKenzie, Chadwick Walton, Nkrumah Bonner, Peat Salmon, Abhijai Mansingh, Romaine Morris, Ramaal Lewis, Jeavor Royal, Ojay Shields, Gordon Bryan.

CCC — Jonathan Carter (captain), Sadique Henry, Kirstan Kallicharan, Shamarh Brooks, Damel Evelyn, Romario Greaves, Sion Hackett, Zishan Motara, Govasta Edmond, Jediah Blades, Shaqkere Parris, Shatrughan Rambaran, Demario Richards.

ROUND TWO SCHEDULE

•Scorpions vs CCC @ Sabina Park

•Pride vs Volcanoes @ Kensington Park

•Hurricanes vs Harpy Eagles @ Warner Park

•Red Force vs CWI Academy @ Conaree Cricket Centre