Jamaica Scorpions captain Rovman Powell has been hailed for his stellar leadership. (Photo: Observer File)
Despite breaking an 11-year title-less spell when they won the Super50 Cup recently, Jamaica Scorpions head coach Andrew Richardson has played down the celebrations as work on their four-day regional campaign began in earnest.
While the transition from limited-overs cricket to the longer four-day format will require the right mental approach, Richardson says it is imperative that the players make the necessary adjustments ahead of the January tournament if they are to build on the Super50 success.
The Scorpions withstood a late challenge from dethroned champions Trinidad and Tobago Red Force to win the recently concluded one-day tournament by three wickets in Antigua.
“No massive celebration because we have work to do for four-day cricket,” Richardson said.
“It’s a different version of the game, but we’ve made a plan for how we want to approach this season. As we speak, there are assessments, physical and otherwise, of some of the players who did not travel with the Super50 Squad.
“So the preparation has already started and during the month of December starting from January, we will be fine-tuning more the technical and tactical side of things,” he told The Jamaica Observer.
For Richardson, the mandate going forward is for each player within the senior national group to improve aspects of their respective games – in particular batting – with the ultimate goal of having more Jamaicans represent the West Indies.
The former Jamaica and West Indies all-rounder recently took over the reins as coach following the resignation of Andre Coley.
“We’re trying to make the players better because even though the goal and the goal is to always play to win, we’re realistic in knowing that we’re not going to be able to come in and win every tournament,” Richardson said. .
“We’re trying to create a system so that when players come in, they understand what the mentality and culture of the team is and follow suit. So basically the goal is to see how much we can help players graduate in international. [West Indies] raised as well, so that’s our plan,” he added.
Richardson’s sentiments came as he reflected on the Scorpions’ success, which at one point looked impossible after poor execution with the bat saw them slump to two defeats in their opening three matches in Zone B.
The second came at the hands of the West Indies Academy – which has Coley as part of its staff – when they failed to chase down a paltry 182.
“It was one of the lessons in our journey as a team. The current structure we’re trying to put in place, we know there’s going to be bumps along the way, but how we come back is more important and I thought we were pretty good at coming back.” , Richardson said.
Led by captain Rovman Powell as their anchor, the Scorpions returned to the top of their zone and then produced two emphatic batting performances to clinch the title.
In the semi-finals against the Guyana Harpy Eagles, they chased down a tournament total of 318 to win with 11 balls to spare and then easily overhauled the Red Force’s paltry 217 on Saturday, although they suffered a minor collapse late in the run.
“The semi-final game stood out to me the most because we had a big total to chase and it showed our true character when we have confidence and don’t panic in a run chase,” Richardson reasoned.
“We know that [our batting] it would have made a huge difference in terms of how the games would have gone for us because the bowling has been consistent for years. So, as you can see, on the days that our click hit, we won those games,” he said.
Richardson also had high praise for Powell, who he used as a prime example of what he and assistant Nikita Miller are trying to accomplish.
“He [Powell] was outstanding in all departments, he led from the front and his decision making was very good, especially on the pitch. He was certainly our standout of the tournament, beaten like a true champion.
“When you look at how Rovman has applied himself over the last few months, he’s someone who’s invested in his game and now he’s reaping some of the rewards of that investment, which is what we want to see from the players,” the tactician explained. .
Meanwhile, all-rounder Andre McCarthy, who had a top score of 55 in the final, also praised his captain for leading the way.
“After the defeat by the Academy, each player began to look at himself, but the captain [Powell] it has gone too far. “He’s grown to where he understands the game a little bit more and was the driving force behind us winning the championship,” McCarthy said. The observer.
