Sport

Breese hoping for bright start

By ANTHONY FOSTER, Freelance Writer

Gareth Breese - File

JAMAICA'S SENIOR TEAM cricket captain, Gareth Breese, is hoping for a bright start to the Carib Beer Series campaign when Jamaica oppose the Windward Islands at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia on Friday.

Breese, who was recently appointed to lead Jamaica said:

"The confidence seems to be there. I am just hoping that when we go down there (St. Lucia) we just perform to the best of our ability and hopefully come home with some points to start the season on a high note."

Asked about the strength of the young and inexperienced squad, Breese, who played 42 first-class matches and one Test, was quick to say:

"We have a very strong batting line-up... on paper so far.

"Our bowling is also very strong but I think our main strength is going to be the fact that we will be playing together," he continued. "That's what we tried to develop over the preparation period, everybody here gets along well. We realised we don't have any 'stars' so we all are going to play for each other."

Over the last two seasons the Windwards have dominated Jamaica. In 2002, they took first innings points and last year they won maximum points at Sabina Park.

Best combination

However, Breese said "over the years we have beaten them and I think we have to get back to that."

"Last year they beat us, so we can't take anything away from them."

He went on to say they will be "trying to address last year's situation first and hopefully get more points out of the game.

Coach Robert Haynes says the final eleven will be named after asessing the pitch in St. Lucia.

"We need to go to St. Lucia and assess the pitch. We need to see what is the best combination to play against the Windward Islands.

"It's a lovely ground. They have played Test and one-day cricket there. We haven't seen bowlers dominate, so we have to be very careful and try and look at the best balance the day before the game.

"In the meantime I think what we need to do right now is to get some more fine-tuning done to the players so that when they leave they are in good health," added Haynes.

The Jamaica squad will leave the island today for St. Lucia.