Caribbean Premier League

The recently concluded edition of the tournament, which was won by the Trinbago Knight Riders, did feature some of the region’s emerging talent.  In fact, a list of 20 young players was, as is required, named ahead of the tournament and several players featured prominently throughout the competition. 

The list included Alick Athanaze, Joshua Bishop, Leniko Boucher, Keacy Carty Roland Cato, Joshua da Silva, Dominic Drakes, Amir Jangoo, Nicholas Kirton, Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Kimani Melius, Ashmead Nedd, Jeavor Royal, Jayden Seales, Keagan Simmons, Kevin Sinclair, Shamar Springer, Bhaskar Yadram and Nyeem Young. 

There are, however, a few players who remain outside this group.  Leslie pointed to the example of Roshon Primus who represented Trinbago Knight Riders in the two previous seasons.  Leslie believes the idea of another country-based T20 tournament could be considered.

“The CPL has a franchise model, which in my view, has not been able to expose the best T20 cricketer that ply their trade in the Caribbean,” Leslie told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“I’ll give an example of Barbados.  Barbados started a T20 domestic tournament back in 2009.  Every year there are some players that contribute very well.  Roshon Primus, for example, does extremely well, but the opportunity for Roshon Primus to be selected, I’m not sure there is that level of transparency,” he added.

“Simply put, you can have young U-19 West Indies players given an opportunity to make the franchises because they were on a global stage. You can have the West Indies emerging players from the Super50, did very well, given an opportunity to play T20 cricket.  But what happens to local Barbadian T20 players, Trinidadians, and those across the region who ply their trade and play consistently well in their domestic tournament.  I believe there is very little for those persons.”

The Saint Lucia Kings won the toss and chose to bat. Mark Deyal got the side off to a flying start and they maintained a high intensity throughout the innings, as Tim David and David Wiese combined to cause carnage in the latter overs, taking the side to a mammoth 205 for 4 after their 20 overs.  

Trinbago Knight Riders got off to a fast start in response but slowly unravelled amidst a growing run rate, as David Wiese took his second five-wicket haul of this year’s Hero CPL to end their title defence as they finished on 184 all out. 

Saint Lucia Kings had got off to a troublesome start as Rahkeem Cornwall was caught out in the first over. Yet Deyal would come in and play with an attacking intent that saw him launch eleven boundaries and reach his highest ever T20 score, 78 off just 44 balls. Roston Chase would aid the side with a valuable knock before David and Wiese came in and formed a destructive partnership: 75 runs coming off the last 34 balls. Despite the high score, Sunil Narine was excellent with the ball for the Trinbago Knight Riders, conceding a paltry twelve runs from his four overs. 

Trinbago Knight Riders responded with a strong start, scoring 66 runs in the Powerplay for just the loss of one wicket, as Narine and Colin Munro kept the required run rate within reach. However, Wiese starred with the ball as he took both their wickets, adding pressure to the chase. Despite quick-fire cameos from Darren Bravo and captain Kieron Pollard, it was not enough as the champions faltered under disciplined bowling from Alzarri Joseph and Wahab Riaz. Wiese then capped off a superb game by taking late wickets to reach his five-wicket haul. 

Saint Lucia Kings reached their second successive Hero CPL final with the win and the result means we will have a new champion this year.

The 39-year-old pace bowler last suited up for the regional team against Sri Lanka, at Pallekele, in 2012.  Edwards has been unavailable for selection after signing a Kolpak deal in 2015.  However, the player became available again with the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union and the termination of such contracts.

Earlier this year, the player announced his availability for the West Indies and also took part in the IPL and Abu Dhabi T10 League.  Despite being one of the oldest active players, in the sport, Edwards has lost none of the pace he has always been noted for and is cable of exceeding 90mph deliveries.  His pace and guile were very much on display in a fiery over against in-form young compatriot Nicholas Pooran during the T10 league.

The Barbadian-born right-arm pacer has played 20 T20 internationals for the West Indies and claimed 16 wickets.  He has also taken part in 55 Tests and 50 One-day Internationals.  Edwards hopes to be part of the T20 World Cup squad, which will attempt to defend its title in October.

The 24-year-old quick has been a part of the Patriots franchise since 2016.  Joseph did, however, struggle last seasons, claiming just three wickets from seven matches, at an expensive 9.29. In 2019, the pace bowler captured 9, the third most on the team, with an economy rate of 7.75.

Late last week, the Patriots announced that they had retained Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Rayad Emrit, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Joshua Da Silva, and Dominic Drakes.

Joseph is currently taking part in the English County Championships where he is currently representing Worcestershire.

This season’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which bowls off on August 28, will be held in its entirety on the island of St Kitts & Nevis.  This year could mark the return of fans, with fully vaccinated patrons expected to be allowed to attend a half capacity Warner Park venue.  The Patriots have never won the CPL but went to the final of the competition in 2017.

The Royals won the toss and again opted to field first, but unlike it was again the Knight Riders on Wednesday, it proved an inspired decision on this occasion, as tidy bowling from Jason Holder, in particular, restricted the Tallawahs to 160-7.

Holder grabbed two wickets for 19 runs in four overs and Afghan spinner Qais Ahmad had two for 42 from his four, against Shamarh Brooks’ 41-ball 78 and Imad Wasim’s 33 from 24 balls.

Young left-handed batsman Alick Athanaze and Laurie Evans, then anchored the Royals reply with an 89-run third wicket stand that propelled them to 161-4 with an over to spare.

The 24-year-old Athanaze hammered three sixes and seven fours in his 48-ball 76, while Evans had four boundaries in his 30 off 26 balls.

Scores: Jamaica Tallawahs 160-7 (20 overs); Barbados Royals 161-4 (19 overs)  

Sent to bat, the Tallawahs struggled to find their boundary-hitting rhythm, especially after Holder accounted for captain Brandon King (one) and Englishman Alex Hales (12), in between overs.

Kyle Mayers earlier had Kirk McKenzie (seven) caught by Evans and the Jamaican franchise was reeling at 23-3 at that point.

Brooks and Raymon Reifer tried to repair the damage and started out well, putting together 54 for the fourth wicket. However, Reifer (16) fell with the score at 77, as he played all over a delightful deliver from Ahmad and was bowled.

Still, Brooks, who slammed four sixes and seven fours in his knock, found another useful partner in Wasim, as they added another 54 runs for the fifth wicket to add some semblance of respectability to the Tallawahs innings.

After Brooks holed out to Rovman Powell off Ahmad, the hard-hitting Fabian Allen (two) was undone by a beauty from Dutchman Roelof van der Merwe, bowling his slow left-arm spin, and Wasim, who had two maximums and two fours in his knock, was run out off the final ball of the innings. 

The Royals were always favoured to overhaul the target on what was a decent batting strip, coupled with the dew factor coming into play, provided they didn’t crumble like they did against Knight Riders.

When Wasim and Chris Green combined to remove the opening pair of Rahkeem Cornwall (17) and Mayers (four) –both of whom are yet to really fire this season –a sense of déjà vu may have hit the Royal fans that they were in for another disappointing night.

But Athanaze and Englishman Evans ensured it was not so. The young Dominican played the aggressor, as he took Tallawahs top trio of Wasim, Mohammad Amir and Salman Irshad to task with some lofty blows showing decent foot work and innovation in a mature innings.

Though Green had Evans caught by Amir midway the 16th over and Irshad bounced back to have Athanaze caught by Hales on the fine leg boundary, the damage was already done and whatever hopes Tallawahs had of a batting collapse, were erased by Rovman Powell and Jason Holder, who ended unbeaten on 10 and nine, respectively.

Despite the win, the Royals remain fifth in the standing on five points, same as fourth-placed Tallawahs, who have a slightly better net run-rate. St Lucia Kings (six points) head the pack, ahead of Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders, who are also on five points each.

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots are at the foot of the standing on two points.

Action will resume on Saturday with a triple header –Amazon Warriors against Patriots at 8:00am Jamaica time, Barbados Royals women against Trinbago Knight Riders women at 2:00pm and Royals against St Lucia Kings at 6:00pm.

 An inspired St Lucia Zouks skittled perennial finalists Guyana Amazon Warriors for the second-lowest team total in Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) history and blazed to victory in just 27 balls to complete one of the most dominant performances in T20 history. In doing so they booked their place against the Trinbago Knight Riders in Thursday’s final, the first in the St Lucia franchise’s history.

Zouks captain Daren Sammy put the Amazon Warriors in, but even he could not have seen this coming. Brandon King toe-ended to keeper Andre Fletcher and Shimron Hetmyer inexplicably left his first ball to let it crash into off-stump. Nicholas Pooran denied Scott Kuggeleijn a hat-trick, but only a single and a wide followed, and Mohammad Nabi followed up with a maiden to leave the Amazon Warriors 2 for 2 after two overs.
Pooran immediately counter-attacked, slashing Kuggeleijn over the slips then dismissively driving him down the ground for back-to-back fours, but he fell trying to loft Nabi down the ground thanks to a wonderful catch by Mark Deyal diving forward from long-off. Chandrapaul Hemraj and Ross Taylor cautiously played out the rest of the Powerplay, at which point the Amazon Warriors were 21 for 3.
Taylor, so often the rock around which recoveries are built, fell LBW essaying his favoured sweep off Roston Chase, who anticipated the stroke well and bowled accordingly. Deyal almost pulled off another amazing catch at long-off as Hemraj drove Zahir Khan aerially, but it just fell short, and a fifth straight over with only three runs off it passed, leaving the Amazon Warriors 27for 4 off eight overs.

The extent to which the tension was pressing on the Amazon Warriors was obvious. Hemraj got a friendly full toss from Chase but only pushed it for two, nearly holed out next ball, and then Keemo Paul did hole out with a swipe down the throat of Kesrick Williams at deep square leg. Hemraj finally hit the innings’ first Hero Maximum off its 56th ball, slamming Zahir over deep midwicket, but at halfway the Amazon Warriors had crawled to 42 for 5.

Chase’s first over after the chase was quiet, but the next was anything but. Amazon Warriors captain Chris Green smashed Javelle Glenn’s first ball for a Hero Maximum and seemed to have done so off his second ball but Nabi pulled off a brilliant balancing catch at the boundary’s edge.

With spin so dominant, Sammy went to Deyal who answered the call emphatically with two wickets in two balls - Hemraj inside-edged onto his stumps via his pad, and Romario Shepherd first ball pushed a simple catch back to the bowler. Again there was no hat-trick, but the Amazon Warriors innings was not long for this world.

Fletcher showed sharp glovework to stump Kevin Sinclair off Zahir, and even sharper moves in celebration and the Amazon Warriors’ ignominious innings ended next ball as Rakheem Cornwall plunged forward to take a sharp slip catch off Imran Tahir. All six Zouks bowlers had taken a wicket, and the innings had lasted just 13.4 overs.

Cornwall showed that a low target wasn’t going to temper his belligerent instincts, launching two Hero Maximums in Green’s first over, whipping Tahir for four through short fine leg and nearly breaking the stumps at the non-striker’s end with a straight drive. Deyal hit fours off each of his first two deliveries, and the Zouks were almost halfway to their target after two overs.

Naveen-ul-Haq was visibly furious with how the evening had gone for his team, bowling a bouncer that sailed even over the towering Cornwall for five wides. Cornwall continued his merry mayhem by walloping Naveen through long-on for four, and Deyal picked up a Hero Maximum for himself with a gleeful mow over midwicket. Cornwall blasted Tahir over long-on for his third Hero Maximum, Deyal closed the fourth over with his third four, and captain Green went down with his ship by bringing himself on for the fifth with just three runs to win.

St Lucia Zouks 56/0 (Cornwall 32*, Deyal 19*) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 55 all out (Hemraj 25; Deyal 2/2, Zahir 2/12, Kuggeleijn 2/12, Chase 2/15, Nabi 1/6, Glenn 1/8) by 10 wickets