KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC):

Windward Islands coach, Ian Allen, is counting on players who excelled in last year's first-class season to come good again as the Professional Cricket League (PCL) Regional four-day tournament opens today.

Windward Islands Volcanoes face Jamaica Franchise at Sabina Park in the Jamaica capital of Kingston in a repeat of last season's Final Challenge.

Windward Islands Volcanoes, once considered the Cinderella side of the regional game, have started to trend upwards in recent years as a number of promising players have started to establish themselves.

"What we will be trying to do is to try and maintain the momentum that we had last season which carried us to the final," said Allen.

'We are looking for the players that contributed to that performance to do the same, so we are looking for even more improvement."

Windwards finished third after the round-robin last season and toppled second-place Trinidad & Tobago Red Force to reach the Final Challenge.

However, Jamaica got the better of them in a drawn match at the Beausejour Cricket Ground in St Lucia.

This year, Allen, is relying on the likes of Tyrone Theophile, Keddy Lesporis and Sunil Ambris for another impressive season for the Windwards.