The Jamaica national cricket team is the representative cricket team of the country of Jamaica. The team competes under the franchise name, Jamaica Scorpions in the Cricket West Indies' Professional Cricket League which comprises both the Regional Four Day Competition and the Regional Super50. Jamaica has won a sum of 12 regional first class and 9 regional one day titles. Hence the Scorpions have won the second most first class and 50 over championships in the history of West Indies cricket.[4][5]
The most prominent[according to whom?] Jamaican cricketers include George Headley, Allan Rae, Alf Valentine, Collie Smith, Lawrence Rowe, Michael Holding, Jeff Dujon, Courtney Walsh, Patrick Patterson, Jimmy Adams, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller and Gareth Breese.
The team's history dates 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 team 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 Regional Four Day Competition and the Regional Super50, and the best players may be selected for the West Indies cricket team, which plays international cricket. Jamaica has won the domestic first class competition 12 times in total. They have also won the one-day competition eight times outright, sharing the title on one occasion. The team competes in the Professional Cricket Leagues under the franchise name Jamaica Scorpions.
Jamaica's main ground is at Sabina Park in Kingston, which has hosted 144 first-class games since 1895. Regional and international games have also been played at the Trelawny Stadium in Trelawny.