The Patriots have brought in two players from other franchises. They have signed Dwayne Bravo from Trinbago Knight Riders in a trade deal that saw Denesh Ramdin go the other way. They have also signed Sherfane Rutherford from Guyana Amazon Warriors.
In addition to these two signings, they have retained Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Jon Russ Jaggesar and Rayad Emrit.
Exciting young prospects Joshua da Silva and Dominic Drakes round out the retentions.
The Patriots have eight spots to fill to complete their squad and these will be announced in the coming weeks.
“The St Kitts and Nevis Franchise extends a warm welcome to the new players joining us this year as well as to our retained core team for yet another exciting season of the Hero CPL. This year makes it extra special with us playing at our home – Warner Park. I would like to thank all our team players, support staff and management as well as our global fan base for their continued love and support. I look forward to an amazing season in 2021,” said Patriots owner Mahesh Ramani.
The retained players are Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Sheldon Cottrell, Rayad Emrit.
The Knight Riders have retained all of 11 players for this season’s CPL, set to run from August 18 to September 10 after a remote draft held earlier today.
The Knight Riders will return this season with Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Khary Pierre, Amir Jangoo, Tion Webster, Akeal Hosein and Muhammad Ali Khan.
They have also signed 18-year-old West Indies under-19 medium-pacer Jayden Seales, as well as carrying back Australian Fawad Ahmed and New Zealand’s Colin Munro after they had stints away last season.
New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert is the new name in the line-up after Denesh Ramdin was transferred to the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.
Seifert comes to the team with 83 T20s under his belt, scoring a century and eight half-centuries at an average of 25.26. He has had 65 dismissals behind the stumps, inclusive of 13 stumpings.
The Knight Riders have drafted four players though, picking up 48-year-old Indian leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, Anderson Phillip, who played with them las season, showing good pace, as well as Zimbabwe all-rounder, Sikandar Raza.
Trinbago Knight Riders:Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Australia’s Fawad Ahmed, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Khary Pierre, Tim Seifert, Sikandar Raza, Anderson Phillip, Pravin Tambe, Jayden Seales, Amir Jangoo, Tion Webster, Akeal Hosein, and Muhammad Ali Khan.
Joshua De Silva, the only man to score a century during the West Indies intra-match practice games over the last two weeks, has been drafted into the Patriots line-up, while Australian, Chris Lynn has come over from the Guyana Jaguars.
De Silva showed he can bat, but the 22-year-old Trinidad and Tobago wicketkeeper-batsman has never played a T20 match and averages 32.88 from his 16 First-Class games. He averages 41 in List A cricket but that is just from 10 games.
While De Silva is an unknown quantity, Lynn’s quality with the bat is world-renowned and he could form a dangerous partnership with Evin Lewis at the top of the Patriots order.
Lewis has been retained along with Jamaican pacer Sheldon Cottrell, and allrounder Rayad Emrit.
The Patriots also chose to retain Fabian Allen, West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph, and Dominic Drakes.
As for signings, the Patriots will have South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen, Former Pakistan medium pacer, Sohail Tanvir, and returning New Zealander, Ish Sodhi.
The Patriots also have the experience of Denesh Ramdin along with Colin Archibald, John Russ Jaggesar, Sunny Sohal, and Dennis Bulli.
The 45-year-old former fast bowler took charge of the twin-island republic team in January of last year and has done a commendable job to date. After taking over a faltering Red Force team in the 2019 edition of the West Indies Championship, Dillon, led the team to a fourth-place finish with a record of three wins, one draw and two losses.
In the following Regional Super50 competition the Red Force went as far as the semi-finals but were defeated by the Leeward Island Hurricanes. In this season’s edition of the West Indies Four-Day Championship, the Red Force finished second to champions Barbados Pride. His spell in charge has, however, not been without controversy with Windies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin of throwing him out of the team and not using proper channels of communication, which hurt the team. Ramdin officially filed a complaint with the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) but was told the matter could not be looked into until the end of the season.
With Dillon’s contract coming to an end at the end of this month, the position has been advertised. The coach, while insisting that he was not aware the post had been tendered, is confident he will be seen as the right man for the job.
“I am quite confident. I think I am probably in a better position than anybody else to retain the job,” Dillon told Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
“Funny enough I heard about it after one of the (media) guys called me (on Thursday) morning. That’s when I found out about it, which was kind of disappointing because even if it is being advertised I would think I would be one of the first people to be notified,” he added.
Dillon said the president of the TTCB Azim Bassarath told him on Thursday that he was previously informed that the position would be advertised, he does not, however, recall that conversation.
Ramdin was a member of the West Indies T20 World Cup sides in 2012 and 2016. Claire reacted to the signing on her Instagram page.
“Two-time World Cup T20 winning wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin. It is a privilege to work with people you admire for all their accomplishments,” she said.
The Trinidadian is a former West Indies captain at both the Under-19 and senior levels and holds the West Indies wicketkeeping record for most T20 dismissals.
The 36-year-old scored 2898 runs in 74 Test matches at an average of 25.87 for the West Indies with four centuries and 15 fifties with his highest score of 166 coming against England in 2009.
In 139 ODIs, Ramdin scored 2200 runs at an average of 25.00 with two centuries and eight fifties with a highest score of 169 against Bangladesh in 2014.
He also represented the West Indies in 71 T20 Internationals scoring 636 runs at an average of 18.70 with one half-century
“At this stage of my career, I needed a new challenge, which is to work with new talent for the benefit of Cricket West Indies,” Bravo said in the statement released by the four-time CPL champions.
“Also, becoming part of a new franchise SKNP will provide me with a new channel in CPL.
“I want to thank TKR for respecting my wishes and for all their support over the years. I also appreciate everything they have done for Trinidad and Tobago in general.”
“Also, becoming part of a new franchise SKNP will provide me with a new channel in CPL. I want to thank TKR for respecting my wishes and for all their support over the years. I also appreciate everything they have done for Trinidad and Tobago in general.”
Venky Moore, Director of TKR, thanked Bravo for his contribution to the team and welcomed back Ramdin to the fold.
“DJ Bravo has been instrumental in not only building TKR into a champion team but also captained the team which earned three championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018. We are sad to see him leave but we respect his wishes and his desire to help Caribbean cricket,” he said.
“We welcome back Denesh Ramdin to the TKR family and look forward to the 2021 season and defending or title.”
Moore also announced that Kieron Pollard has been retained as captain and that his vice-captain will be Sunil Narine.
The Trinbago Knight Riders chose to move on from the 35-year-old Trinidadian, who has been part of the CPL since its inauguration in 2013, scoring over a 1000 runs in six seasons.
He has represented Guyana and Trinbago, and for the latter he has 619 runs, making him one of four players to have scored more than 500 runs for TKR in the CPL.
Disappointed to have been released by TKR, Ramdin said he is keen to prove his worth to the Patriots.
“I am happy to join a new team. It’s all about business and nothing else,” he said.
“Yes, I was very disappointed but it was beyond my control, its sport. I had lots of fun memories with them on and off the field winning two trophies.”
He believes his skill sets will make his new team even better.
“With my experience playing over the years, and also they could do with a player who can adapt to any situation,” he said.
Ramdin played 12 matches for TKR in 2019, scoring 190 runs with a top score of 50 and a strike rate of 100.5.
The 32-year-old batsman was one of five players dropped from the Red Force squad, after a disastrous showing against Barbados Pride last weekend, in the West Indies Championships. Ramdin made a pair of ducks in a 299 runs loss. The team will take on the Leeward Islands Hurricanes this weekend.
The out of favour Windies player, however, revealed that the issues with the coach seem to spread deeper than just the one game.
“The coach does not want me on the team. We don’t talk, probably a good morning here or there but we don’t communicate,” Ramdin said in an interview with the T&T Guardian.
“It all started last year in St Kitts when we needed 140 runs from 15 overs and I was batting at the time. I called off the game because the next three batsmen to come after me was very young and it would have been difficult to get that score. I was told he left the ground and called the chairman of selectors (Anthony Gray) and the president of the board (Azim Bassarath) to get me fired,” he added.
According to the player, he has officially filed a complaint with the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) but was told the situation could not be assessed immediately.
“I have complained to the board because this can’t be good for the team. The environment there is not good at all. The players on the team are not comfortable and this cannot be good for the young cricketers on the team.”
The 37-year-old Trinidadian who last played Test cricket for the West Indies against Australia in January 2016, made his debut against Sri Lanka in July 2005. In 74 Tests, he scored 2898 runs r.that included four centuries and 15 half-centuries, at an average of 25.87. He took 205 catches and 12 stumpings in his Test career.
He made his decision known on Instagram on Friday.
“It is with great pleasure that I announce my retirement from international cricket,” said Ramdin, who last donned West Indies colours in a T20 match against India in December 2019.
“The past 14 years have been a dream come true. I fulfilled my childhood dreams by playing cricket for Trinidad and Tobago and the West Indies.
“My career afforded me the opportunity to see the world, make friends from different cultures and still be able to appreciate where I came from.”
Notwithstanding his retirement from international cricket, Ramdin said he will still be playing franchise cricket.
Ramdin played 139 ODIs for the West Indies scoring 2200 runs with two centuries and eight half centuries, averaging 25.00. he also had completed 181 catches and seven stumpings.
He also played 71 T20I in which he scored 636 runs. In those matches he took 43 catches and pulled off 20 stumpings.
