Coley calls on Scorpions to take responsibility
Published:Wednesday | March 2, 2022 | 12:11 AMLennox Aldred/Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA SCORPIONS head coach Andre Coley has made it clear that his players need to take more responsibility for their performances if the team is to claw its way from the foot of the West Indies Championship table.
Following back-to-back losses away to Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and the Barbados Pride, the Scorpions find themselves at the bottom of the standings with 8.8 points.
The Windwards Volcanoes are in fifth position with 10.8 points, the Guyana Harpy Eagles fourth with 21.4, Leeward Islands Hurricanes third with 24.6, the Red Force second with 38.6 and the Pride lead the Championship, 42 points.
Once again, the perennial problem of the team’s batting has surfaced and continued to plague the Jamaican side, who have seen good early signs wiped away by clusters of wickets which have cost the team dearly.
“A high percentage of our dismissals were very soft, to say the least, and we haven’t played consistently good cricket. In each department, you can identify in patches periods of play where we were dominant, but to say that we have been able to put a game together to win, we have not done that in two matches,” said Coley.
GOOD POSITION
In the opening contest against the Red Force, the Scorpions were in a good position at 74 for two and folded for just 141 runs in the first innings while at the Kensington Oval against the Pride, the Jamaican franchise moved from a position of dominance at 301 for four to be all out for 328.
Captain John Campbell has been the only real bright spark in the team’s batting so far, scoring the third-most runs in the championship with 213 runs in two innings, including a century against Barbados.
With the batting failing to spark just yet, Coley is however singling out the efforts from his seamers, who he has said bowled excellently in the two matches.
Seamer Marquino Mindley has been leading that charge with eight wickets, including a five-wicket haul against the Red Force. The fielding and catching have also been given high marks, and with still three rounds of matches to go, the Scorpions coach is looking for a rejuvenated performance from his unit.
“Yes, it’s a disappointing start but with three games to go, more than likely we will be playing at home and we have to plan for that. It’s a short season and we have to look at performances. Having said that, we have to look at the balance of the squad to have the right combination.”
The West Indies Championship is currently on a break to facilitate the playing of the West Indies vs England Test series. The competition is expected to resume in May.