Richardson

Former West Indies 'A' Team fast bowler Andrew Richardson, who guided Jamaica to victory over Trinidad and Tobago recently in the WICB Regional Four-day Championship, believes he is in peak form at the moment.

The former West Indies Under-19 standout, who has been plagued by back injuries since making his regional first-class debut as a 20-year-old, said he has been putting in a lot of work - physically and mentally - and now that he is injury-free he is back to his best.

"My body is feeling great and I am feeling great mentally as well. There are no injuries. In fact, it is the best that I have felt since I was 16," said the 27-year-old with a broad smile.

Richardson had modest returns in Jamaica's big win over Barbados in the last round, where spinner Nikita Miller and medium pacer Dave Bernard Jr combined for 16 of the 20 wickets, but he has been fairly consistent all season.

He took 5-54 in the second innings of Jamaica's 124-run win over Trinidad and Tobago to finish with a match-haul of 8-116. The pacer finds it somewhat pleasing, as injuries have often limited his participation while affecting his career.

"I have been doing a lot of gym and bio-mechanics work, especially with Jimmy Adams and André Coley and it has been paying off with me feeling stronger and getting back to good pace," said Richardson.

After guiding Kingston College to Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association urban area titles in the late 1990s, the pacer went on to represent Jamaica Under-19s and the West Indies at the ICC Youth World Cup.

Career best

In 2004, Richardson picked up 36 wickets at a career-best average of 18.50 and a strike rate of 35.1 to cop the Andy Roberts Award for the Most Promising Fast Bowler in only his second first-class season. However, his major bugbear, injury, forced him off the radar after a short stint in England and now that he is performing at his expected standard and grabbed five wickets against the Trinidadians, he is enjoying the rewards of his efforts.

"The spinners (Odean Brown and Nikita Miller) have been doing a tremendous job, so whenever I get the chance I try to make an impression.

"It (Alpart) was a good wicket, as what you put in is what you got out. I have been getting three wickets regularly, so it was good to get a fiver as I have been working for this all season. I still have ambitions of wanting to represent the West Indies and the only way I can do that is to keep on taking wickets," added Richardson.

Jamaica's captain, Tamar Lambert, says his front-line pacer has delivered when asked to.

"Richie has been bowling well all season and against Trinidad he proved that he is in good form. Whenever we ask him to make breakthroughs for us he tries his best to deliver. He is bowling fast and he is putting the ball in good areas.We just hope that he continues," said Lambert.

Jamaica lead the championship with 84 points, 24 more than the Windward Islands (60), who are followed by Barbados (54), Leeward Islands (47), Trinidad and Tobago (45), Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC), on 30 and Guyana (24).

The Jamaicans will host the CCC in their next match, which is set to start tomorrow at Sabina Park.