Antigua Observer article.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua - Leeward Islands, despite their dismal showing in the WICB Regional Four-Day cricket competition to date, is hoping that the Antiguan public will come out in support Friday for the start of their fifth round clash against Guyana.
The match will be played at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds and is crucial to both teams, as they seek to climb the standings in hopes of making it to the final round of the competition.
Leewards coach Ridley Jacobs highlighted the importance of winning the penultimate contest.
“We don’t want to finish second to last or last. We want to finish in the top four, so it’s important that we go out there and really play well and try to win this game so that we can increase our chances of being in the top four,” he said.
“I hope that in spite of the fact that we haven’t been winning a lot of the games that people would still come out and support the team because it is Leeward Islands team.
“It is not just one individual and we have been trying to change things and things have been happening. So we’re trying to work hard to get the right combination and the right mindset going forward,” he added.
Leeward Islands selectors on Tuesday named an unchanged squad for the match slated for April 4 to 7.
Jacobs said they wanted to give the players time to adapt.
“We, as selectors, think that we need to give players a long run instead of giving them one or two games and then dropping them because that is something that has been happening in the past and it is something we don’t want to be happening now,” the former West Indies wicketkeeper/batsmen said.
“So we want to give guys a longer run and hopefully they can find their feet and really give us what we are looking for in terms of some really good performances.”
Leeward Islands are second from bottom in the standings with 25 points after four matches.
They have won one and lost three of their matches to date, while Guyana are at the bottom of the table with just 17 points after losing three and drawing one of their four games.
Following their match against Guyana, Leeward Islands will face Barbados from April 11 at the same venue.