Coach Richardson working on Scorpions’ batting

Jamaica Scorpions coach Andrew Richardson is working on solving their batting problems, which will be escalated this year, with the unavailability of former captain and leading runs scorer last season, John Campbell, who is serving a doping violation ban.

According to Richardson, he aims to prepare the current players as best as possible, with a focus on batting and hopes they deliver during the tournament.

"The batting is always a cause for attention and we always look to set different standards, because possibly we will have new personnel in some of these positions simply due to unavailability of senior players.

"We have been working extensively with all the batters and hopefully when the competition is ready, we will see some sort of fruit in terms of all the work we have been putting in from the end of the Super50," Richardson said.

Richardson will have his work cut out, as apart from Campbell, he is expected to be without several other senior players who will be on senior West Indies duties and Twenty20 franchise league cricket. These are Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Brandon King and Rovman Powell.

The West Indies Championships will begin on February 1 and some squad members are showing early-season form with opener Leroy Lugg and Jeavor Royal scoring centuries in practice matches, and Richardson is looking to find a suitable replacement for Campbell at the top of the order.

"Lugg scored some runs last weekend and we also have young Kirk McKenzie who has been a part of the High-Performance Centre. We also have Romaine Morris and Tevin Gilzene, and those guys are the four who are pushing to seal the opening spot. A few of them have had good innings and I have personally explained to them what we are looking for. The next couple of practice games will be crucial for them," Richardson said.

Meanwhile, Richardson and assistant coach Nikita Miller are plotting to improve the Scorpions' position at the end of last season, when under coach Andre Coley, they finished a disappointing fifth in the standings on 43 points with just one win, two draws and two defeats.

Richardson is confident that Scorpions will perform well, having recently won the limited overs Super50 title, especially with the strength of their bowling, which will once again be spearheaded by leading wicket-takers last season Nicholson Gordon and Marquino Mindley, who picked up 13 wickets each.

"The good thing is that coming out of the Super50, we played at those stadiums recently and in terms of reading the conditions, we should be able to do that better and that knowledge will give us some sort of advantage," Richardson said.