Jermaine Lannaman, Star Writer

An unbroken opening stand of 90 between sidelined West Indies opener Omar Phillips and Romel Currency yesterday gave the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) the ascendancy over Jamaica heading into today's second day of their West Indies Cricket Board Regional Four-Day Tournament clash at Chedwin Park, St Catherine.

The pair, who were brought together at approximately 1 p.m., after the entire first session of play was abandoned due to a wet and soggy outfield, are expected to resume batting today, weather permitting, at 9:30 a.m.

The left-handed Phillips, who has so far represented the West Indies in two Tests, both of which were against the touring Bangladesh when most of the West Indies senior players boycotted the series, is currently not out on 53, while Currency has so far contributed 27 not out.

"It's not the ideal position we would like to be in at this stage, as due to the weather and a couple of dropped catches we have found ourselves a little behind," said Jamaica's captain Tamar Lambert.

"But knowing the calibre of players we have, and the fighting spirit of the team, I know we will bounce back well, and I am looking forward to us doing so tomorrow," he added.

uneven batting

After spending the entire morning session inside their dressing rooms, play began rather cautiously on what was a somewhat uneven batting surface with Phillips and Currency taking their time to assess the conditions and Jamaica's bowling attack, which was missing fast-bowler Jerome Taylor, and for the most part lacked penetration.

Leading Jamaica's charge were pacers Andrew Richardson, Jason Dawes, all-rounder David Bernard Jr and leg-spinner Odean Brown. However, perhaps for the first time this season, none looked overly threatening, which provided the perfect fodder for Phillips and Currency to patiently build their innings.

In fact, had it not been for part-time medium-pacer Wavell Hinds, who was brought on towards the end on the day, and induced Phillips into two drives that surprisingly flew through the slip cordon, where Simon Jackson, Marlon Samuels and Danza Hyatt were positioned, the CCC would have ended the day more on a high, knowing that not a single chance was created in their 36-over stay at the crease, which was only upended when rains came at 3 p.m., thus bringing an early close to the day's proceedings.

"It's a good start on what was a difficult wicket to bat on at first," said CCC captain Omar Phillips.

"The plan now is to come tomorrow and assess the conditions, and again be patient, as we would like to post a challenging first-innings total, and put Jamaica under some pressure."