Scorpions, Volcanoes hunt maiden four-day win this season
JAMAICA Scorpions and Windward Islands Volcanoes will be hunting their first win of the regional four-day cricket season when the two lock horns, starting today at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago.
The Scorpions are last in the six-team standing with 8.8 points after the two defeats, while the Volcanoes (10.8) are marginally ahead in fifth.
Champions Barbados Pride lead with 42 points, followed by the Red Force (38.8), Leeward Islands Hurricanes (24.8) and Guyana Harpy Eagles (21.4).
The Scorpions are bolstered by the return of West Indies white-ball batsman Brandon King, who missed the losses to Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and Barbados Pride last month due to international duty. He is set to play his first match of the 2022 regional four-day season before he departs on West Indies assignments in the Netherlands and Pakistan.
Test middle-order batsman Nkrumah Bonner, who did not feature in the contest versus the Red Force, is also in the Scorpions 15-man squad.
They are set to partner West Indies Test batsmen Jermaine Blackwood and John Campbell and former national skipper Paul Palmer for the Volcanoes clash.
Campbell, the Scorpions captain, said the batting line-up will have to play key role if the team is to reverse its fortune this season.
“That is where our experience lies, in our batting, so we just have to make sure that whenever we bat we make it count and get big totals on the board,” he said during a recent Cricket West Indies Media conference call.
Looking back at the two losses so far, the Scorpions captain said players have produced glimpses of good form.
“We’ve shown signs, it’s just that we haven’t been consistent enough, and we’re hoping for a turnaround starting with the third round,” he said.
The Volcanoes Captain Kavem Hodge said his team has been better than their two losses suggest.
“The stats don’t reflect the kind of cricket we’ve been playing, our focus now is to finish off games after coming very close in the previous rounds,” Hodge said.
Squads: Scorpions — John Campbell (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Leroy Lugg, Nkrumah Bonner, Brandon King, Kirk Mckenzie, Derval reen, Paul Palmer, Aldaine Thomas, Jamie Merchant, Patrick Harty, Nicholson Gordon, Marquino Mindley, Oraine Williams, Gordon Bryan.
Volcanoes — Kavem Hodge (captain), Keron Cottoy, Denis Smith, Devon Smith, Ackeem Auguste, Alick Athanaze, Daurius Martin, Desron Maloney, Josh Thomas, Kenneth Dember, Kimani Melius, Preston Mcsween, Shermon Lewis, Teddy Bishop, Larry Edward.