Former Jamaica Under-19 representative, leg-spinner Gavin Wallace, is hoping to catch the eyes of the regional selectors during the upcoming West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) four-cay championship, which bowls off next Friday.

Wallace, who was one of two specialist spinners named to the Jamaican 14-man squad which is currently in camp before they depart for their January 9 opener against the Leewards Islands in St Kitts, said while he is a newcomer to the Jamaican squad, he has regional experience, having represented the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) team last season and if given the opportunity, he hopes to use this to enhance his career.

"My hopes are very high as I set myself very high standards and this year, if I play, I am looking to get somewhere close to 20-30 wickets in my first three games and, if I am impressive, force the WI selectors to look at me for the Tests against England," said a confident Wallace, who, along with fellow leg-spinner, Odean Brown, could spearhead Jamaica's spin attack.

Well equipped

"I know I am young and thing, but I just want to show the selectors that I am looking to go ahead with my career and that I have what it takes to help the team get back to the top of world cricket," added Wallace, who has a degree in finance with a minor in human resource management from the University of Technology.

A member of St Jago High's successful ISSA Urban area Under-19 team recently, Wallace represented Jamaica at the Under-19 level in 2003. However, it was not until last season when, having failed to make the Jamaica squad, he was called to the CCC team, that the Jamaican selectors began to take notice of him.

After a fairly successful season with the CCC team in which he claimed a career best 6-108 against the Leewards Islands in only his second game, Wallace was then given a chance to show his worth against the touring Australians earlier this year and was invited to the Jamaica one-day trials in October, where he bowled himself into first-team selection.

"I was confident of the making the four-day team as I had a pretty decent one-day tournament," he said of the Jamaica one-day team experience, in which they failed to defend their crown in Guyana last month.

"I knew that I had to come here and take some wickets in the four-day trials and in the first game I got six wickets and, after being rested in the second game, I returned in the third and again bowled pretty well," said Wallace, who lists Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan as his role models.

Jamaica squad: Brenton Parchment, Danza Hyatt, Horace Miller, Donovan Pagon, Tamar Lambert, Wavell Hinds, David Bernard, Keith Hibbert, Odean Brown, Gavin Wallace, Andre Russell, Jason Dawes, Andrew Richardson, Lorenzo Ingram.