BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Jamaica will attempt to thwart rampant Barbados' charge towards yet another title when the two teams meet in the semi-final of the Headley/Weekes Trophy today.

More important, the Jamaicans will look to salvage their regional first-class season, which saw them uncharacteristically finish fourth in the WICB President's Trophy and secure their spot in the final four of the Headley/Weekes Trophy only in the last preliminary round of matches last week.

They started the competition strongly, winning their first two matches, but then capitulated to lose three in a row and find themselves in fifth spot in the standings and in danger of missing out on the semi-finals.

Jamaica captain, Tamar Lambert, said their victory in the last round over Combined Campuses and Colleges, however, had given his side good impetus going into the semi-final at Kensington Oval.

"We've always had good character in our side. We have some senior players with some youngsters. It's always good to find ourselves in another semi-final and, hopefully, we can play four good days of cricket against Barbados," Lambert said yesterday as Jamaica put in a final training session.

"A win is always a good thing, having lost three games in a row. It's a long time I haven't lost three games for Jamaica in one season so it's always nice to get back to our winning ways and to try and lift up our confidence going into the game against Barbados, and we're looking forward to it."

When the two sides met during the regular season, it was Barbados who prevailed, with a convincing 245-run victory at Sabina Park.