Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

JAMAICA ENTER today's Carib Beer Series round four match against arch-rivals Trinidad and Tobago with more on their minds than defending a perfect record accumulated at home during the first three rounds of the regional four-day competition.

On Sunday, in the final of the Stanford Twenty/20 competition, Jamaica were humiliated by T&T to the tune of nine wickets and blew the chance of a US$1 million payday and had to settle for a by no means measly US$500,000 runners-up purse.

Late last year, Jamaica beat T&T in the KFC Cup one-day final to claim that prize, but the ledger is by no means square between the two most talent-laden sides in the Caribbean and there should be plenty of fire between the teams at Queen's Park Oval.

The primary spark could be ignited by Jamaica captain Chris Gayle whose growing reputation for leadership on and off the field for Jamaica and the West Indies was tarnished by his self-demotion down the order in the 20/20 final and then some ill-chosen comments after the match which, however inadvertently, were interpreted in some quarters as the team putting money over national pride.

Gayle, struggling for form after an injury-plagued tour of South Africa, never hit his straps in his familiar opening role at the 20/20 event in Antigua and put himself at No. 5 in the final which possibly undermined the team's confidence going into the final encounter and certainly gave his opponents, as T&T skipper Daren Ganga stated, a psychological boost.

Good basic cricket

"We have put that Stanford Twenty20 defeat behind our backs. We are in the lead and we going to play good basic cricket," Gayle said yesterday. "We are looking for a good first days play. As you know the opening day can determine the outcome of the game."

While Gayle will be without Jamaica mainstays Marlon Samuels (unavailable) and Wavell Hinds (dropped), the side still boasts enough pedigree to continue its winning ways and all but seal the Carib Beer Cup title with three games to play after this weekend. Gayle's primary support with the bat will come from the likes of West Indies team newcomer Brenton Parchment, in-favour Xavier Marshall, in-form Danza Hyatt and probably either recalled stand-in skipper Tamar Lambert or Shawn Findlay.

The all-rounder spot could be a toss-up between Brendan Nash and David Bernard Jr with keeper Carlton Baugh Jr also adding to the list of capable bats.

Test quicks Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell will spearhead the attack with support from left-arm spinner Nikita Miller and emerging legspinner Odean Brown.

Trinidad and Tobago got off to an ordinary start to the Cup and have only 16 points from their two matches - a whopping 20 behind Jamaica.

Ganga, one of the more astute captains in the region who can't quite translate first-class form to the Test level with the best, has a team brimming with all-round talent and on a high after its Sunday evening windfall.

His deputy will be effervescent Test all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and they can expect to be well supported by chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed, Lendl Simmons, William Perkins, Richard Kelly, Test keeper Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Rayad Emrit and Keiron Pollard.

Positive sign

"We are not in a good position overall in the standings, not for cricket reasons but for the weather." Ganga said. "The outcome of this match can give a positive sign as to how the actual tournament is heading. So it is very important that we go out there and do our best."

The key to the match could be the feisty Mohammed who bamboozled Jamaica in the 20/20 final on his way to figures of 4-20 and the Man of the Match award.

Also this weekend, the Leeward Islands take on Barbados at Salem Park in Montserrat and the Windward Islands play Combined Campuses and Colleges at Beausejour Stadium, St. Lucia.