CRAB HILL, Barbados, CMC - As it falls in the middle of the four-Test series between West Indies and England, the final of the Carib Beer 2004 Cricket Series between Barbados and Jamaica, starting at the North Stars Social & Cultural Club, today, holds greater significance.
Both sides have been boosted by the inclusion of their West Indies stars, all looking to maintain or, in some cases, enhance their current form ahead of the last two matches in the four-Test series against England.
No doubt national pride will be at stake, but players on both sides will have to look at the bigger picture and hope that the competitive atmosphere that always seems to swirl around these two teams whenever they play each other will help to lift their cricket.
The match will be decided upon which side has least lost its focus in the last three weeks since the semifinals were contested and both earned first innings points in drawn matches over Guyana and Windward Islands respectively to gain their place in the final.
To the average observer, Barbados seem to hold most if not all the aces. They won all of their preliminary matches and only a docile Kensington Oval pitch for the semifinal, if not the batting of the Guyanese, prevented them from making it eight straight wins.
The Barbadians also hold home advantage and deliberately chose the North Stars ground for its favourable bounce that will suit their players, five of whom are just taking a break from the series against England.
The Barbadian batting has been fortified with the choice of Dwayne Smith and Ryan Hinds, while Tino Best and Pedro Collins, the season’s leading bowlers, along with Corey Collymore will form the core of a formidable attack.
Injury has denied the Barbadians the right of using Fidel Edwards, but Jamaica must be wailing loudly that no less than five of their seasoned players will not be available for one reason or another.
Gareth Breese, Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels and Jerome Taylor all have injuries of a nature that it would have been foolhardy to risk them, while comeback kid Jermaine Lawson, whose action was under investigation at the same time he encountered an ailing back, will face the English at Three Ws Oval, 20 minutes drive due south.
The Jamaicans, however, will hope that acting captain Chris Gayle can find the form that has eluded him during the Test matches and power them to a respectable total that will allow them to put some pressure on the Barbadians.
The match will be broadcast live on Windies Cricket TV through the partnership with the Caribbean Media Corporation, whose Cricketplus team will provide ball-by-ball radio coverage of the match.
Squads:
BARBADOS: Courtney Browne (captain), Kurt Wilkinson, Martin Nurse, Sherwin Campbell, Floyd Reifer, Ryan Hinds, Dwayne Smith, Ian Bradshaw, Tino Best, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore; Reserves: Ryan Hurley, Antonio Mayers.
JAMAICA (from): Chris Gayle (captain), Maurice Kepple, Donovan Pagon, Tamar Lambert, Keith Hibbert, David Bernard, Carlton Baugh, Nehemiah Perry, Odean Brown, Daren Powell, Andrew Richardson, Brenton Parchment, Evon McInnis.
UMPIRES: Glenroy Johnson, Basil Morgan (TV Replays: Vincent Bullen).