Jamaica national cricket team

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It does not take part in any international competitions (the 1998 Commonwealth Games tournament being an exception), but rather in inter-regional competitions in the Caribbean, such as the Carib Beer Cup and the KFC Cup, and the best players may be selected for the West Indies team, who plays international cricket. Jamaica has won the domestic first class competition six times, and they have also won the one-day competition five times - and shared the title once. The team's history lasts back to 1895, when they played three matches against a touring side from England led by Slade Lucas, but because of the distance to the other cricketing countries, Jamaica did not play regular first-class cricket until 1964. They played in the inaugural Shell Shield first-class competition, winning it on the fourth attempt, but then had to wait until 1977-78 for their next title - which was a shared one-day title with Leeward Islands.

From 1986 to 1992, Jamaica won a total of six titles (three first class and three one-day), but in the thirteen seasons since then they have added four to the cupboard, despite completing the double in 1999-2000. In 2004-05, they came back after a two-year drought, however - with seven wins in ten regular season matches, they were 47 points ahead of runners-up Leeward Islands on the regular season table to win the Carib Beer Cup, before defeating the Leeward Islands by eight wickets in the final to take the Carib Beer Challenge title as well. However, this was followed up by a last-place finish the following season.

The list of prominent cricketers who have represented Jamaica include Jimmy Adams, Gerry Alexander, Jeff Dujon, Chris Gayle, George Headley, Michael Holding, Lawrence Rowe, Alfred Valentine, Courtney Walsh and Frank Worrell.

2005-06 squad

Roll of honour

* Domestic first-class competition winners: 1968-69, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1991-92, 1999-2000, 2001-02, 2004-05, 2007-08
* Domestic one-day competition winners: 1977-78 (shared), 1983-84, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1990-91, 1999-2000

Grounds

Jamaica's main ground is Sabina Park in Kingston, which has hosted 144 first-class games since 1895. Usually at least two or three games have been played there each year, although they played no games in 2005, opting instead to have Alpart Sports Club Ground in St Elizabeth as their main home ground with three of five games. That ground will also host one game in the 2005-06 Carib Beer Cup, along with Kensington Park in Kingston and Chedwin Park in Spanish Town.

References

* [http://www.cricinfo.com Cricinfo]
* [http://www.cricketarchive.com CricketArchive]
* [http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005-06/WI_LOCAL/KFC-CUP/SQUADS/KFC-CUP_2005-06_JAM-SQUAD.html 2005-06 KFC Cup Squad] from Cricinfo
* [http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/30/1780_f.html First-Class Matches played on Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica]

See also

* List of Jamaican C.C. players
* Jamaican women's cricket team