I checked the score and it was 110/3, then a few hours later after a gruelling gym session I check it again and see Ambris has gone all "Sobers" on us
. Honestly though, what a f#cking knock by that young man
. And tbh he's been in incredible form all year really. Scored a double ton for Winwards earlier this year, and two tons for the A-team last month so he's probably done more than any batsman in recent times to earn a spot. Blackwood, when he was younger, used to be on the bench for Jamaica and getting a few chances here and there. He would often come in, score a quick 20 or 30 and then get out. But one day he came in and was really lighting up the place with big shots all over the park. And those 30s suddenly turned into 50s, and evenutally he got his first ton and followed that up with tons for the A-team. The one thing that always concerned me with Jermaine though is he's never really had a dominating season at first class level. He's play eye catching innings but never quite string together a consistent season for Jamaica. And that trend has followed him up to international level. He's played some remarkable innings. His knocks against England in Barbados virtually got us the win and a drawn series. He played a great 90 odd not out in Sri-lanka when all were falling around him, he done a similar thing in England in the embarrassing first test this year etc. So, I wouldn't be inclined to just totally dump the guy. BUT, I just want to see some growth from him instead of just staying as inconsistent as he's always been. Ambris deserves his spot in the side and we can only hope that this motivates Blackwood and forces him to take stock and improve on some things in the middle.
Now back to Ambris, like so many of our youngsters he was inconsistent a few years back. He had a season where he scored two tons and got into the A-team but then failed. But even when watching him when he played for the same WI u19s team as Kraigg, you could see he had loads of potential. And what encourages me is his two tons against SL-A were all done under huge pressure and all raging tuners against spin. And now he goes to NZ and scores on a pitch against pacers where the ball is moving around. So it shows very encouraging signs that he may be able to adapt his game accordingly.
Honestly though it just seems like we're finally seeing a lot of talented young batsmen rise up in the Caribbean finally and it's very exciting to see. For so long it was simply Kraigg and Darren Bravo who had come through with any competence to their games. Then Blackwood came along and now Shai Hope and Chase have stepped up etc. The Darren Bravo situation is still hurting us a little but we just have to pray that young Hetmyer takes his chance. He's very much like Blackwood but I think Hetty's celing is much higher as he's much better from a techical point of view.
Anyway should be interesting to see what our bowlings can do on this track. Hoping to see Roach, Gabby and Holder hit their strides quickly as they are gonna be vitally important to how we do in this series. Because as we saw in England, if they fire, then anything can happen.