The Jamaica Tallawahs are home and have three decisive encounters in front of them at Sabina Park this week but while their first opponent the Antigua Hawksbills are at the foot of the table without registering a win Jamaica Tallawahs Captain Chris Gayle says this does not mean it will be an easy game on Thursday.
He comments: Cricket is such a funny sport. When teams are back against the wall they can produce their best cricket in a tournament so we must be on our guard and be ready for whatever they have to throw at us. Our aim is to win all three home matches and to add some momentum going into St. Kitts. Last year the support was fantastic and I am anticipating similar on display this time around.
Jamaica Tallawah’s Coach Mickey Arthur also gave his views and stressed the need to get more wins. We are quite pleased with where we are right now. If you told me before the tournament that we would win three games out of four on the road before coming to Jamaica I would take that in a heartbeat. So for now we have to ensure we get the wins at home. The winner of the group stage automatically qualifies for the final and we would like to be in that position so it is important the intensity remains the same, and we keep working hard like we have done since we started in Grenada.
Antigua Hawksbills Coach Tim Nielsen also shared some insight saying; Having a cluster of Jamaican-born players in my team is a huge asset as they are familiar with the surface and the conditions. We have not lost heart by any means. We still have a realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals and we are going to press hard to get there. Who knows - a win in Jamaica may be the momentum and drive that kicks off our season. With St. Lucia in a few days time as well this week is make or break for us.
Summing up Hawksbills Captain Marlon Samuels said; Results have not gone the way we wanted, however we have to back ourselves to get the result on the day. We have match winners in our team and I believe if we can have a good start tomorrow then things should fall into place for us.
