Franchise skipper Lambert concedes team doing poorly with the bat

CAPTAIN of Jamaica Franchise Tamar Lambert has been left to assess his team's dismal batting performances so far in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Professional Cricket League Four-Day Tournament.

The Jamaicans returned home on Tuesday, after eking out a 38-run victory over hosts Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Queen's Park Oval on Monday's fourth and final day of their third-round encounter.

Six batsmen failed to trouble the score as Jamaica were bowled out for a paltry 173 in their first innings. Lambert, who made 86 runs, and David Bernard (65) were the only significant scorers.

The Jamaicans fared a little better in their second innings, but still failed to reach the 200 mark, as they were bowled out for 196.

The strength of the bowling unit once again proved hard to withstand, as left-arm pacer Sheldon Cotterell and left-arm finger spinner Nikita Miller laid the platform for victory.

"I think it was a good victory by us. We played some good cricket in that match, but we also batted poorly in both innings and that is something we always try to rectify -- our batting performance. We continue to let ourselves down and there comes a time when you have to make changes," Lambert told the Jamaica Observer upon the team's arrival at Sabina Park.

"We can't keep going into games and find ourselves losing two, three and four wickets with hardly any runs on the board. So sooner or later we have to find the players who can stand up and bat and put the runs on the board and try to get the team off to a good start.

"But at the end of the day, it was a good victory. It is always a nice feeling when you beat Trinidad at home, so hopefully we can continue in that vein when we play against the Leewards on Friday (tomorrow)," he added.

Lambert pointed out that the Queen's Park Oval playing surface was not much of a challenge. He said a lack of consistency on the part of the batsmen on either team was the reason for the low scores.

"I don't think the surface was that difficult to bat on; what I can say is that it was difficult to get a start on, but once you get a start then definitely it can bat on.

"If you look at their (Trinidad & Tobago) innings they got a start and didn't carry on... in our first innings it was just me and David Bernard Jr who got a start. So it's a wicket that you can bat on, but you have to plan to bat a lot of deliveries, and I don't think the batters on both teams did that.

"There is still a lot of work to be done on our part. We can't continue to give any team those small totals to defend... one day it will catch up on us, and that is something that we need to sort out. We haven't been getting (good) starts for two to three years now and that is our major concern."

However, Lambert is optimistic that the batting performance will be a lot better when they welcome the Leeward Islands Hurricanes to Sabina Park tomorrow. The Jamaicans will be without Cotterell, who will join the West Indies squad on their tour of South Africa.
jamaicaobserver.com