Leewards eye turnaround vs Ja

BY HOWARD WALKER Observer senior reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

THE Leeward Islands cricketers arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday for the Regional Four Day Tournament match against champion Jamaica tomorrow, under a new manager after failing dismally in their first two games.

John Archibald has replaced Percy Daniels following crushing defeats by Guyana and the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in the first two rounds.

Guyana first defeated the Leewards by 234 runs inside three days before they crashed to a record low 39 runs first-innings score en route to a massive innings-and-15-run loss against the CCC inside two days.

Coach Stuart Williams refused to say if Daniel was fired but admitted that Archibald will be arriving in Jamaica today. The Leewards are at the bottom of the seven-team competition without a point after two games.

Four-time champions Jamaica lead with 24 points, ahead of Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), CCC and the Windward Islands, each on 12 points. Barbados are also without a point, but from only one game.

"When you're coaching for a while you have to expect these things because you're starting a team from scratch. It was surprising, and to be honest, these guys are much better than this and if you look at our bowling a fielding you will see that we're restricting teams," said Williams.

Nevertheless, Williams, a former assistant coach of the West Indies A team, is confident the Leewards can turn things around against Jamaica.

"It's a challenge, that's what you want in first-class cricket. We don't want to play against Under-15 players. We want to play against the best to judge yourself. We're looking forward to playing against Jamaica," said the former West Indies stylish right-handed opening batsman.

Three new players have been added to the squad in Devon Thomas who is returning from injury, Hayden Walsh Jnr and Javie Lightbourne.

They will join forces with captain Gavin Williams, Justin Athanaze, Nelson Bolan, Jamaican-born Jason Campbell, Jahmar Hamilton, Montcin Hodge, Anthony Martin, Kieran Powell, Gavin Tonge and Tonitto Willett.

"We come here to compete and try get something out of this game, otherwise it doesn't make any sense coming to Jamaica," he noted.

Captain Gavin Williams echoed those sentiments. "We're going to try win the game and there is a chance of beating Jamaica as long as you're playing. The boys are willing and ready to go."

The Leewards are coming off some poor batting displays after succumbing to the spin of Ryan Austin in the last game, crashing to 39 and 113 all out against the CCC. But their coach remains optimistic they can rebound.

"We had a couple of net sessions and some soul searching sessions and we did what we had to do in those behind the scene and at the end of the day you will only be judged on the pitch.

"We have a few West Indian players in our ranks in Keiran Powell, Gavin Tonge, Anthony Martin, Devon Thomas, so these guys are good players and they don't become bad overnight. Leewards Islands always started slow, so hopefully, we can start from this game," he noted.

The Leewards take on Jamaica tomorrow at Sabina Park and coach Williams is expecting the typical tough match-up against the home team.

"This is the basic Jamaican team over the years. They have four or five guys in Bangladesh, but these are the guys who always form the core, and I'm not surprised they're doing well because they have been together for a number of years," said Williams, who made his West Indies debut in 1994 against England and went on to play 31 Test matches with a highest score of 128.

Meanwhile, in the other games starting tomorrow, Guyana take on CCC at Warner Park in St Kitts and Barbados host Trinidad & Tobago at Kensington Oval in Barbados.

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Leewards eye turnaround vs Ja