WHEN THE 2009 West Indies four-day championship begins early next month, at least one player will be looking forward to it with bated breath. He is former Jamaica and West Indies Under-19 pacer Jason Dawes.

A product of the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) 'cricket factory' which has in recent times produced West Indies players Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Nikita Miller, Brenton Parchment and Shawn Findlay, Dawes, after an outstanding national senior trials in which he captured five wickets in the final match, was selected as one of three pacers in the 14-man squad and come January 9, when the competition starts, he is looking to make a major impact.

"Having played with the West Indies Under-19 team before, this is the opportunity for me to step up to the senior level and perform," said Dawes, who at 19, is one of two teenagers who was named to the squad. The other is Dawes teammate at the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia earlier this year, batsman Horace Miller.

"I just want to use this opportunity to display my potential and fulfil my dream of representing the West Indies at the senior level," Dawes added.

Mean pacer

A lean and mean pacer, whose smooth run-up and delivery stride remind many observers of Michael Holding, Dawes played two of the three trial matches, the first and the last. After modest returns in the first, he was dropped for the second as the selectors wanted to take a look at some other bowlers who were outstanding in national two-day and one-day competitions.

But after taking a look, the selectors gave Dawes a second chance to show his skills and he took five first innings wickets, much to the delight of the selectors, who saw in him the potential to make the transition to a higher level.

"When I heard the names called out, I was very, very nervous. My name was the 11th to be called and when I heard it I just freezed up," Dawes, who is in his final year at STETHS, said.

"After not bowling particularly well in the first trial match, I had my doubts," Dawes, who in his first year of ISSA Under-19 cricket took 8-31, said. "But I kept my cool and waited on my opportunity and did what I needed to do.

Felt overwhelmed

"After taking the five wickets, I felt overwhelmed and said to myself that 'this must can bring me through', as only André Russell and David Bernard Jr, at the time, had taken over five wickets.

"I was getting the ball in good areas and was bowling at a good pace, not a level that I was bowling for the West Indies, but at a good pace, and I think that paid off for me," he said.

Dawes, who after the Youth World Cup, was out of action due to injury, turns 20 this week, but will not be eligible to play for STETHS in the Headley Cup competition this year due to ISSA rules. According to the rules, a student should not reach 20 in the academic year of a competition.

However, according to Dawes, he does not plan to let this situation hinder him as, in addition to pursuing a cricket career, he wants to succeed academically.

"Because of the World Cup and stuff, I missed out some months of school, so the principal and teachers decided to give me another opportunity to get my subjects. I want to because it is my intention to attend UTech or Mico University College, should the need arise."

During the ICC Youth World Cup, Dawes started in all of the West Indies' first round games, of which they loss two and won one. After failing to make the knockout stages, the team then turned its attention to the Plate Championship where Dawes played one of three games - the final against Nepal in which he took 4-18 and claimed the man-of-the-match award.

Jamaica squad: Brenton Parchment, Danza Hyatt, Horace Miller, Donovan Pagon, Tamar Lambert, Wavell Hinds, David Bernard, Keith Hibbert, Odean Brown, Gavin Wallace, Lorenzo Ingram, André Russell, Jason Dawes, Andrew Richardson,

- Jermaine Lannaman