JCA set to stage new-look Twenty20

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) is to stage a new-look Twenty20 competition next season, in light of Jamaica's below-par performance at the recently concluded Caribbean Twenty20 (T20) tournament in Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago.

The competition, which was inaugurated last year and uses a knockout format, will see a change in its structure, which will allow teams to play more matches and get greater exposure.

The decision came after a post-Caribbean T20 debriefing at the JCA's Sabina Park offices on Wednesday. The team's coach, Junior Bennett, manager Courtney Francis, fitness trainer David Bernard Sr and captain Tamar Lambert submitted reports and made recommendations at the debriefing.

"The general consensus was that if Jamaica was to improve players will have to play more games ... ," said a JCA official who was involved in the meeting and requested anonymity.

"We are far behind other countries in the region because they have lights, which they use to stage multiple matches, and we don't. We therefore have to be creative and one such move is to change the format and structure of our local Twenty20 competition," he added.

Six- and 10-wicket defeats

Jamaica, who were favoured to win the tournament, finished fourth after suffering huge six- and 10-wicket defeats to Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago in the semi-finals and third-place play-off, respectively.

During the debriefing, which was chaired by JCA president Paul Campbell and included top JCA executives and members of national selection committee, it is understood that a number of factors were identified, in addition to a lack of T20 exposure and practice.

Some of these included issues relating to the naming and changing of the team's captain days before the team departed the island and players not adapting to the demands of the format.

"In four-day competitions, players can bat for themselves and bat slowly because if they make 100 the team benefits. But in Twenty20, players have to bat based on the match conditions, and that was one of the areas where we fell down on the field ... too many dot balls," said the official.

Guyana won the tournament and will represent the region at next month's Airtel Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa. The league will offer approximately US$11 million in prize money.

This season's local Twenty20 competition, which is sponsored by Red Stripe, will bowl off next month.