The ISSA/First Global Bank Grace Shield urban cricket competition enters the last-four stage this week with a pair of three-day semi-final matches which are set to start this morning.

At Excelsior High School, the defending champions are to host Jamaica College (JC), while back-to-back finalists St Jago High are to welcome Campion College.

Kirkland Bailey, the Excelsior head coach, said his players are ready for the JC challenge.

“The team is very confident at the moment. We have been undefeated all season and have been playing good cricket. We hope to continue that and do well at home and see if we can get ourselves in the final where we hope to defend our crown,” he said.

Though heavy favourites to get past JC, Bailey insisted there is no room for complacency.

“The Jamaica College team is a good one; we respect them, but we are confident we have the technical capabilities to handle the situation. But this is a game of cricket in which you have to get it done on the day. Your reputation won’t get you anywhere, so we have to be ready to get it done,” the Excelsior coach noted.

Bailey said the team will be without leg spinner Tamarie Redwood, who sensationally took seven wickets in an innings on his national senior team debut in February. The coach told the Jamaica Observer there have been “issues registering” Redwood but they are being “sorted” in hopes of having him available before the schoolboy cricket season ends.

Meanwhile, St Jago head coach Joseph Lemmie said his side is primed to make another run to the urban area final.

“The boys are excited and confident. We have been unbeaten so far in the Grace Shield and based on how we have been playing our cricket we are a force to be reckoned with,” he told the Observer.

“We have seasoned players who have been performing to the best of their abilities. So, based on where we are in terms of the quality of players that we have, as long as we put our feet together and pool our resources I believe that this time around we are going to be champions.”

Lemmie said a victory over Campion earlier this season is an added psychological boost for his players.

“We played this Campion team in the preliminary stage and we beat them, so the confidence is high that we can get the better of them [again],” said the St Jago coach.

— Sanjay Myers