Former champions Manchester Lions, perennial contenders Melbourne Kangaroos and reigning champions St Catherine Saints are all in with a chance of winning the Jamaica SuperCricket League title and $1 million, in the final round which begins today.
Meanwhile, first-timers Hanover Dolphins,Westmoreland Wizards and St Elizabeth Warriors are all battling to avoid relegation to next year's second division Senior Cup.
Manchester, who lead the standings with 23 points, will travel to Jarett Park to face Hanover Dolphins (four), while second-place Melbourne (21) and St Catherine (18) face off at Chedwin Park in the round's top two matches.
Out-of-contention Kingston Tigers (15) will entertain St Elizabeth (8) at Sabina Park, and Trelawny Buccaneers (10) will play away to Westmoreland (7) at St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) in the day's other.
Points
Six points are awarded for an outright win, three for winning first innings in a drawn match or a tie, two for winning first innings points, but losing outright, and one each for a no-result.
"We are very optimistic of beating Hanover and lifting the title, despite the ban against Maurice Kepple by the JCA (Jamaica Cricket Association)," said Manchester's coach, Barry Barnes.
Kepple was banned from this weekend's round of matches after the JCA Competitions and Complaints Committee ruled that his preseason loan transfer request from second-tier Senior Cup side Kensington CC to Manchester was not done according to guidelines.
Manchester were also fined a record $300,000. This, however, did not go down well with some teams in the league, including title challengers Melbourne and St Catherine.
Both teams, after reviewing the JCA decision, issued a joint statement on Thursday saying that they were not in agreement and requested an appeal pursuant to Rule 23 of the competition.
The rule regarding loan transfer states:
"Should any club/parish be found guilty of a breach of this rule, then such a club/parish shall suffer a loss of any points gained in the match in which the breach was committed and/or may be fined."
The JCA, which originally ruled that no appeal would be allowed, had not responded to the teams' request up to late yesterday.
"We have not gotten any correspondence and have not been in any dialogue with the president," said Melbourne manager, Donald McNaughton. "We are very upset, but are being guided by our lawyers and until then will not make any official comment on the matter," he explained.