Scorpions to go strictly local for upcoming regional tournaments

There will be no overseas players involved with the Jamaica Scorpions franchise for upcoming regional tournaments, according to chief selector Junior Bennett.

Having pre-selected 13 players, the Jamaica Scorpions are expected to complete their 15-man squad selection with local players in today's West Indies professional players draft for the Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 Cup and the West Indies Four-Day Championship.

The Zoom meeting which will be represented by Bennett and coach Andre Coley will see the Scorpions having the third pick in rounds one and two in the draft selection, which will see the Leeward Islands Hurricanes bowling off the process.

Eighteen Jamaicans are among the 109 players in the draft pool, with Odean Smith (T&T Red Force), Ramaal Lewis (Guyana Jaguars), Damion Jacobs (Leeward Hurricanes) and Kirk McKenzie (West Indies Under-19) all available to be selected by the Scorpions, having been part of other franchises and set-ups last season.

13 protected players

The 13 protected players for the Scorpions are captain John Campbell, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Paul Palmer Jr, Derval Green, Marquino Mindley, Akim Fraser, Dennis Bulli, Andre McCarthy, Nicholson Gordon, Patrick Harty Jr, Aldane Thomas and Jeavor Royal.

According to Bennett, the franchise will be looking to fill the other two contracted spots with a local all-rounder and fast bowler, which means there is no place for Guyanese opener Assad Fudadin and Grenadian wicketkeeper Denis Smith, who played four and six matches, respectively, for the franchise this past season.

"With the cut in fees from Cricket West Indies and the contract lasting only until December, our franchise board decided for this year to use local players," said Bennett.

As the world and the region continue to grapple with the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, Bennett and the rest of the cricket fraternity are keeping their fingers crossed with regard to the playing of the Super50 competition in November and the West Indies Championship early next year.

Despite the uncertainty, Bennett believes the franchise is in good stead to improve on their performance once cricket gets the go-ahead again regionally.

"We are quite satisfied with the bunch we have; selection has not been one of the easiest of things to do, but I think we have a fairly balanced group and we are just hoping for cricket to get started again."