Lambert hopes to consolidate Jamaica’s lead on the road
Having got off to a positive start at home, Jamaica’s captain Tamar Lambert is looking to consolidate his team’s chances of retaining the regional first-class cricket title when they head on the road for the next two rounds of games.
The Jamaicans registered a solid six-wicket win over the Windward Islands at Chedwin Park yesterday and Lambert is confident his team can improve, based on past performances away from home.
“I don’t think it will be a great challenge playing on the road. Over the years we have done well overseas than in Jamaica. We just have to keep focus and play one game at a time,” Lambert told the Observer yesterday after the comfortable win before lunch on the fourth and final day.
The team departs today for St Kitts, where they’ll tackle the Leeward Islands starting on Friday at Warner Park in Basseterre.
Last year the Jamaicans came out on top in St Kitts and this season, the Jamaican skipper is expecting nothing less.
“I think we have a pretty good chance,” he said. “This team is a well balanced team, so whatever conditions we get in St Kitts we will be ready for it. Last year we beat the Leewards in St Kitts… so hopefully we can go there and play four days of good cricket and once we do that I know we are going to be competitive and come out victorious.”
Jamaica gained control of the Windward Islands game at the end of day two, as they responded with 335 to 181 made by the visitors in the first innings. At their second turn at bat the Windwards made 251, setting the hosts a meagre victory target of 98, which they achieved for the loss of four wickets.
Former West Indies batman and Jamaica captain Wavell Hinds and left-arm orthodox spin bowler Nikita Miller were the real standouts for Jamaica and their matured display at crucial stages of the game was noted by Lambert.
“It was a good performance over the four days. We dominated the game with that seven-wicket haul by Nikita Miller and then that 95 from Wavell Hinds, who built some partnerships with the tail which really helped to put us in a good position,” he said.
“I have all the confidence in this team… and whatever total any team set we are going to try to get it. We didn’t get a good start so we let them back into the game. They are a fighting team and they’ll only get better from here. So it’s good that we play them this early in the competition, because the more they play it’s the better they become,” added Lambert.
While the Jamaican team was clearly the better side, the captain admitted that at the top of the order there are concerns as both openers Xavier Marshall and Brenton Parchment, and number three batsman Donovan Pagon all failed to make a statement with the bat.
Said Lambert: “I thought the performance in the field was pretty good. We did drop a few catches, but having said that it was a fairly good performance by the team in the field. But we have to continue to work hard.
“That (top of the order) is always a concern for us… we try to get a good start at the top but not getting any, so that is something that we definitely have to look at, because most of the time when the middle-order is batting we have to be batting under pressure. But we hope that in the next game the openers will be able to put something on the board so the middle order can play a lot more freely.”