Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

JAMAICA CONTINUE their hunt for the top honours in the regional Carib Beer four-day cricket series when they take on a confident Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) at Kensington Park starting today.

Winners of the opening match against the Leeward Islands at Sabina Park a few days ago, Jamaica, who at 20 for four in their second innings chasing a victory target of 115, gave their fans a scare before easing to victory with five wickets in hand, are also confident. So much so that despite the failure of two of their batsmen and one of their bowlers, they are going into today's contest with an unchanged team.

The batsmen who failed to perform against the Leeward Islands were opener Keith Hibbert and number three Brendan Nash. The bowler who failed to perform was pacer Jermaine Lawson, an the left-handed Nash is likely to come in lower down the batting order, all three have been retained with the hope that this time around they will come good.

And chances are they will need to come good if Jamaica are to tick off their second victory and make it two from two.

Although they are a team picked from a number of tertiary institutions around the region, but mostly so from the University of the West Indies and more so from its Cave Hill campus, in Barbados, newcomers CCC appear stronger in batting, bowling and probably even captaincy, than the Leeward Islands, who lost to Jamaica inside three days in the opening round, and are expected, if not to win the match, at least to give Jamaica a run for their money.

Boast good batsmen

Apart from the former Barbados and West Indies batsman Floyd Reifer, in captain Shirley Clarke of Barbados, Romel Currency of the Windward Islands, Jason Parris of Barbados, Chadwick Walton of Jamaica, who will also serve as wicketkeeper, Kurt Wilkinson of Barbados, Simon Jackson of Jamaica, and 19-year-old Nekoli Parris of Barbados, the CCC boast some good batsmen - and especially so the experienced left-hander Reifer, the experienced Currency and the exciting Walton - the right-hander who, as youngster representing Lucas a few years ago, cracked a century before lunch against Mel-bourne at Melbourne Oval.

Although Trinidadian left-handed wrist-spinner Kavesh Kantasingh, a member of the West Indies Under-15 team which won the Costcutter world championship in England in 2000, they possess a slow bowler, like the West Indies team. The CCC's attack will include at least three pacers with the lucky ones coming from Barbados and West Indies A representative Jason Bennett, from Jamaica's Jowayne Robinson, from 20-year-old Barbadian Jamal Noel and from 18-year-old Kevin McLean, also of Barbados.

According to manager, Horton Dolphin, a lot is expected from the newcomers who are coached by former Barbados batsman Richard Straker with assistance from their head of delegation, former Barbados and West Indies batsman Roland Holder, and with Clarke, Currency, Reifer, Jason Parris, and Wilkinson as batsmen, with Bennett as a bowler, and all six boasting first-class experience, they could deliver.

Although the CCC could make it difficult for Jamaica, however, and despite the eclipse of their top order last Sunday, Jamaica's batting of Xavier Marshall - who might need to curve his aggressive and some times careless approach, Hibbert, captain Tamar Lambert, the experienced Wavell Hinds, Nash, David Bernard Jr. and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh Jr. should be too good for their bowlers. And when it comes to their batsmen, Reifer or no Reifer, Walton or no Walton, so too should the home team's pacers, Lawson, Andre Russell and Bernard, and based on their performance in their opening match, especially so leg-spinner Odean Brown and left-arm spinner Nikita Miller.

SECOND-ROUND GAMES

- Jamaica vs Combined Campuses and Colleges, at Kensington

- Windward Islands vs Leeward Islands at National Stadium, Grenada

- Barbados vs Guyana at Kensington Oval