Scorpions’ King says no added burden to score runs
JAMAICA Scorpions Captain Brandon King says there is no added pressure for him to perform as a batsman, even as he predicts his team will be motivated for the final match of this season’s regional, first class cricket competition.
The Scorpions, who last week succumbed to a 212-run defeat to defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles at Sabina Park in Kingston, are set to close out a disappointing campaign against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at the same venue, starting Wednesday.
The loss to the Harpy Eagles was the fourth in six matches for the out-of-contention Scorpions. On the other hand, the Harpy Eagles, in the thick of the hunt for back-to-back titles, have won four matches in a row.
Speaking to journalists after the match against the Harpy Eagles ended on Saturday, the 29-year-old King noted that the team’s pride is at stake.
“It’s a part of professional sports… when you win you don’t get too high and when you lose you don’t get too low. It’s something you have to develop as a professional,” he said.
“I’m sure all the guys will want to improve on their performances. Everybody has pride in their own performance so I don’t think it would be hard to pick us up; and everybody wants to make it right and try to finish on a high,” the skipper added.
King, who appeared in exquisite nick but could only manage scores of 32 and 15 in the four-day defeat to the Harpy Eagles, was the only batsman in the match to have a first class century for Jamaica Scorpions.
The 23-year-old Test lefthander Kirk Mckenzie has a double hundred (221) in first class cricket, but that came when he represented West Indies Academy a year ago.
King insisted there is no extra burden on him to lead from the front.
“Personally, I don’t feel that additional pressure, I just try to lead by example. [It’s not] every innings you are going to score runs,” he said.
“The guys have to step up, everybody has to step up batting wise. A lot of the guys may not have a lot of experience at first class level but they have been playing cricket for a long time. It’s no different at this level, it’s just a little bit more application,” he explained.
After the Scorpions had a horrible outing in the field, dropping a number of opportunities and watching haplessly as the Harpy Eagles remarkably recovered from 61-6 to make 424 in the first innings — Kemol Savory and Captain Tevin Imlach racked up centuries — King said better catching would have made a significant difference.
“Looking back, there are a few adjustments that we could have made but, as I said, the main thing were the seven dropped [chances].
“We had created opportunities, and if we had taken those opportunities — some of them off the two guys that got hundreds — [the outcome would have been better]. If you drop players at this level, multiple times they are going to go big so that was what really hurt us in the first innings,” he said.