Defending champions Trinidad & Tobago and regional four-day title-holders Jamaica will clash in the feature match of the opening round in the WICB President's Cup limited-overs competition today at Providence.
For the first time ever in a regional competition, four matches will be played on the same day with hosts Guyana set to face Leeward Islands at Enmore, Barbados to face the Young West Indies at Bourda Oval and Combined Campuses & Colleges to battle Windward Islands at Everest.
Interest in the tournament is high since all of the senior players have been mandated to play to be eligible for West Indies selection.
The Jamaica squad has 11 West Indies players. They include Dave Bernard Jr and Nikita Miller, who were part of the recent makeshift regional team, and today's game against T&T should be a keen tussle.
Experienced
The Trinidadians exhibited great solidarity in the Champions League Twenty20 in India and with no fewer than nine players with West Indies experience in the side they should start as one of the tournament favourites.
T&T, however, may not be at their best, since they may still be uffering the after-effects of jetlag, following their long trip back from India, a brief stopover at home on Monday, and a late-night trip into Guyana yesterday.
They'll need to be at their best, since the Jamaicans would be looking to bring them back down to earth and T&T would have to find a way to stop Chris Gayle.
The Jamaica captain is the most destructive limited-overs batsman in the world and if he gets going on the lightning-fast outfield and flat track, the T&T bowlers will find themselves under plenty of pressure.
Brenton Parchment, Wavell Hinds, Danza Hyatt, Shawn Findley, Xavier Marshall, Carlton Baugh Jr, Bernard Jr and the solid Brendon Nash give Jamaica a strong batting line-up.
In Jerome Taylor and Andrew Richardson, the Jamaicans also have two of the best fast bowlers in the region.
Daren Powell has enough international experience to make him a force at this level, while Bernard, with his steady medium pace, left-arm spinner Miller and leg-spinner Odean Brown should relish the sluggish Guyana pitches.
With their confidence high and Adrian Barath and Williams Perkins in good limited-overs form, T&T can also post a massive total, especially if the Bravo brothers, Lendl Simmons, Denesh Ramdin, the Ganga siblings, the pugnacious Kieron Pollard and Navin Stuart get going.
Ravi Rampaul will be looking to continue his fine bowling from the CLT20, while Stewart and the spin attack of Sherwin Ganga, Dave Mohammed and Samuel Badree will hope to utilise the slow surface.