Jermaine Lannaman, Star Writer

St Catherine CC batsman Tamar Lambert said not having the added pressure of captaincy was one of the reasons for him topping the just-concluded Jamaica Cricket Association JAMT20 batting charts.

Lambert, whose team copped the title following a 168-run win over newcomers University of Technology (UTech), recently topped the charts with 298 runs at an average of 49.67 from six matches.

The score was 58 runs ahead of University of the West Indies and former national Under-19 batsman, Paul Palmer Jr, who hit 244 runs from five matches at an average of 61.00.

Kashane Roberts of St Thomas with 229 runs at 76.33 finished third.

"Not being the captain really relieved me of some of the pressure, and as a result, I was able to focus on my batting a little bit more," said Lambert.

"I also opened the batting, which allowed me to just go out there and play my natural game, and I knew that once I played my natural game, I would have made runs."

Lambert, who was replaced as Saints captain by Danza Hyatt, scored one century and a half-century during the competition.

His century, a masterful 119 retired hurt off 67 balls, came against Jamaica Defence Force in the semi-finals.

The 32-year-old Lambert, who has in recent years been struggling with the bat for Jamaica in regional cricket, also said he was looking to continue his form in future national competitions.

"There are a few national competitions coming up, including the Senior Cup and I am really looking forward to them," he said.

"There should also be the Senior Cup, and in both competitions I want to score heavily.

"I want to start dominating local cricket at every level once again, as I used to do when I was younger, as next season I want to be up there on the regional batting charts."

The top five of the batting chart is completed by Davian Johnson of UTech and Kerry Holness of St Elizabeth.

Johnson scored 197 runs from four matches at an average of 32.83, while Holness netted 190 runs also from four matches at 63.33.