Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor

BENNETT

JAMAICA'S SENIOR cricket squad is slated to start its preparation for next year's regional competitions next month. And given the fact that the one-day and league competitions are to run back-to-back, training is going to be intense.

"Our preparation will start in another month's time," the team's new coach, Junior Bennett, told The Gleaner recently.

"Next year our season will be extremely tough. Because of the World Cup, both the one-day competition and the four-dayers will be played between January and February," he said. "Those are going to be two hectic months, so we have to prepare ourselves both physically and mentally for those competitions." Bennett, who replaced Robert Haynes as coach at the end of last season, says they will practise both the limited overs and league tactics at the same time.

"We have to look at all facets of our game. For us to play the one-day competition first and three days later start the the four-dayers, it simply means in our preparation we have to look at both versions of the game. It's going to be tough, but the players are up to it," he said. Bennett made that assessment after the team's Air Jamaica Cup victory on Saturday over an All-Caribbean United States team in a rain-hit one-dayer at the stadium being constructed at the greenfield site in Trelawny - where the opening ceremony for next year's ICC WI Cricket World Cup will be staged.

Though the game - the first at the venue - was held primarily as a dry run to test certain facets of preparations for the upcoming mega-showcase that will be hosted right across the region, Bennett noted that " ... we used the opportunity to look at a few emerging players".

Expounding on the topic, Bennett, the long-time national youth coach, added: "We played a few youngsters ... they equipped themselves well and hopefully the selectors will have a look at them.

Pleased

"I'm pleased with them. It's an extremely young team and they came out and played their part. What we have seen is that one or two of them definitely have the ability to move on."

Several of the younger players impressed Bennett, including pint-sized wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Powell whom he listed as having an "extremely good day" followed his assured play in a 33-run innings, one of the better contributions in Jamaica's 213 for seven off 47 overs.

He said: "It's not just the runs, but the way he batted, I think he batted extremely well.

"Also Andre McCarthy (who scored 11). He did not get enough runs today, but he showed enough composure, he played extremely well before he got out; Damion Ebanks, who played his second match for Jamaica here today. He played against India and now he's played against the United States.

"It was a good platform on which to expose these youngsters," Bennett said.

David Bernard Jnr., who top scored with 39 and bowled a tidy spell with a wicket for eight runs off four overs, won the Man of the Match award as his team went on to win by 36 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis System, with the United States 102 for five close to the 25th over when play was called off.

Commenting on the fact that several players got starts and never scored big, Bennett said: "When you're playing any cricket outside the cricket season a lot of these things happen - where players get starts then lose concentration and throw it away because they are not as fit as when they are playing competitive cricket."

He added: "I think this is a start for them, so after playing this match they will go back and start training on their own until the regular training starts in November."