UWI favoured against Police

MOST PEOPLE ARE HAPPY to have policemen around for protection.
But for three-time defending champs Sagicor UWI it may be for different reasons when they welcome the cricketing cops to the 3Ws Oval today as their second series opponents in the LIME Elite Division.
After completing a big 98-run away victory over a CGI Maple team which challenged them for the title last year, UWI will be favoured to pull off a second straight victory against a Police outfit, which was blown away by nine wickets by ICBL Empire in the opening series on their return to play among the Elite teams.
UWI’s off-spinners Ryan Austin and Liam Sebastien will be licking their chops to bowl at batsmen who were undermined by the spin of Jomel Warrican and Roston Chase on a surface that  usually offers generous assistance to bowlers.
Cousins Jonathan Carter and Carlos Brathwaite should also be a handful with bat and ball in a UWI side, which had the luxury of omitting first-class players Raymon Reifer and Kevin McClean for the first match.
Empire, early joint leaders with UWI on 18 points, will host a TeleBarbados Carlton side that conceded first innings lead to Super Centre Spartan in a drawn two-day rain-ruined match.
ESAF Pickwick, the third team to record a first series win after beating the Barbados Defence Force Sports (BDFSP) Programme by five wickets, will welcome fellow St Philip side, BNB St Catherine, to the Foursquare Oval.
St?Catherine conceded a 400-plus total to Guardian General Barbados Youth in the first match and their bowling attack, already without pacers Marlon Franklyn and Joel Leacock, who are in Britain playing league cricket, will be further depleted by the absence of captain and left-arm spinner Derick Bishop because of an eye problem.  
Spartan will be at home in Queen’s Park to the BDFSP, who will be without pacer Randall Hoyte, who left for England earlier this week to play for Wavetree Cricket Club in Lancashire.  
In the other game. Maple will travel to Cane Garden to face Barbados Youth, looking to rebound from their meltdown against UWI, when they crashed for a meagre second innings total of 75.
POINTS: Empire 18, UWI 18, Pickwick 16, Spartan 10, Barbados Youth 9, St Catherine 5, Carlton 4, Maple 4, BDFSP 4, Police 4.