Brathwaite wants more competitive regional games

WEST INDIES and Barbados Pride captain Kraigg Brathwaite commended both his team and the Jamaica Scorpions for a hard-fought match in the recently concluded West Indies Championship third-round clash which ended on Saturday at Sabina Park.

Brathwaite’s Pride came away with a four-wicket win late on Saturday’s final day, the contest one of the few that went the distance in the first phase of the competition.

“I am very happy to see the game going all four days. This is the sort of competition you want, as it will make our players better,” said Brathwaite.

Previously, neither the Jamaica Scorpions nor the Barbados Pride had taken their games into the fourth day. The Scorpions lost to the Windward Islands Volcanoes and beat the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) inside three days, while the Pride took care of the CCC and lost to the Volcanoes on the third day of those fixtures.

For Brathwaite, the competitive nature of the fixture can only benefit regional players who ultimately will go on to represent the region at the international level.

“We don’t want games to be finishing in two days as that does not help our cricket. I must say that it was a good pitch here at Sabina which contributed to the contest and I must say well done to the ground staff. I hope we can have some more competitive four-day games for the rounds remaining.”

That competitive match Brathwaite spoke of saw Jamaica’s wicketkeeper batsman Romaine Morris getting his highest first-class score of 97 not out in the first innings with Barbados left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican picking up his 20th five-wicket haul at the first-class level to lead the bowling standings.

Brathwaite himself batted his way back into form, scoring 142 in the Pride’s first-innings total, which helped to set up the win. The in-form Kevin Wickham also scored 63 in that innings and Jamaica’s Derval Green picked up four wickets.

All-rounder Abhijai Mansingh scored his fourth first-class fifty for the Scorpions in the second innings when he got 54, while debutant Barbados seamer Shaquille Cumberbatch took his maiden five-wicket haul.