Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced Shai Hope as the new captain of the West Indies Men’s One-Day International (ODI) team and Rovman Powell as the new captain of the West Indies Men’s T20 International (T20I) team.
Shai Hope is the new West Indian ODI skipper
Hope, the wicketkeeper/batter and Powell, the batting allrounder, and will take over from Nicholas Pooran, who stepped down from the positions last November following the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
The first assignments for both captains will be the upcoming tour of South Africa in March where the West Indies face the Proteas in three ODIs and three T20Is from 16 to 28 March, following two matches in the ICC World Test Championship. Each captain will be heavily involved in strategy and planning leading up to the next ICC World Tournaments. In ODI cricket, the West Indies are likely to need to qualify for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, with the qualifiers scheduled to be held in Zimbabwe in June. In T20I cricket, the West Indies will be hosting the next ICC T20 World Cup with the USA in June 2024.
Hope is selected as ODI captain after demonstrating strong leadership on and off the field and experiencing the vice-captain role over a number of Series since 2019. He became vice-captain for a second time in June 2022 and played his 100th ODI for the West Indies against India in July last year. Hope has played 104 ODIs and was recently selected in the ICC ODI Team of the Year for 2022.
Hope said: “It is a tremendous honour and privilege to be appointed captain of any West Indies team. To lead a team that is of such incredible significance not only to myself and my teammates but to our legion of fans the world over, is something one dreams of as a child. The rich history and legacy that our region and our brand of cricket is so famous and loved for, requires no intricate explanation. I would like to thank CWI for entrusting me with this immense opportunity. To navigate West Indies cricket in the right direction will be my fundamental priority and a task that I shall be unwaveringly committed to. With the support of my team-mates and our dedicated fans, I look forward to a long and fulfilling tenure as captain of the West Indies One-Day International team.”
CWI’s Selection Panel recommended Powell as T20I captain, referencing his demonstrated leadership acumen and tactical ability when acting as the West Indies T20I vice-captain and as captain for Jamaica in 2022 with double success in both regional competitions. He led Jamaica winning firstly the Caribbean Premier League with the Tallawahs in September before captaining the Jamaica Scorpions to the CG United Super50 Cup title in November.
Powell said: I’m truly humbled and grateful to be given this amazing opportunity to lead the West Indies. For me, this a huge vote of confidence and I see this as the greatest honour of my career. To be asked to ‘carry the flag’ for the people of the Caribbean, there’s no bigger role in cricket in the region — a job previously held by some of the greatest servants of West Indies cricket. I also want to thank CWI for allowing me to guide the team in the coming years as we set sights on the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which we will be jointly hosting with the USA next year. I’m a passionate cricketer who believes in leading from the front and always giving 100 percent. “
Match schedule in South Africa
21 to 24 February: vs South Africa Invitational XI at Willowmoore Park, Benoni
28 February to 4 March: 1st Test at SuperSport Park, Centurion
8-12 March: 2nd Test at the Wanderers, Johannesburg
Thursday, 16 March: 1st ODI at Buffalo Park, East London (day/night)
Saturday, 18 March: 2nd ODI at Buffalo Park, East London (day/night)
Tuesday, 21 March: 3rd ODI at JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom
Saturday, 25 March: 1st T20Is at SuperSport Park, Centurion
Sunday, 26 March: 2nd T20I at SuperSport Park, Centurion
Tuesday, 28 March: 3rd T20I at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg (night)
Sam Curran broke Chris Morris’ record (INR 16.25 crore) to become the most expensive buy at an IPL auction, when Punjab Kings outbid five other teams to sign him for INR 18.50 crore (USD 2.25 million approximately).
At that price, Curran is also the most expensive player in IPL history – even more than retained players like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul – and he was reunited with the franchise that first brought him into the IPL with an INR 7.2-crore bid in 2019.
The England allrounder was the Player of the Final and the Tournament at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, and since September this year he has taken 25 wickets in 14 T20s at an economy rate of 7.08. He has also improved his batting, especially against spin: in 31 T20 innings since 2020, he has an average of 27.07 and a strike rate of 154.69.
“Absolutely overwhelmed and incredibly humbled to receive that bid,” Curran told Star Sports. “Punjab is where I did my debut season a few years ago … It will be very different but I know the stadium at Mohali pretty well, and surely our team-mates will help me … Incredibly excited to come to India for this big opportunity. So many things running through my mind. At 9am this morning I was struggling to find a stream, it [the auction] wasn’t on TV in England. ̛I sat with my girlfriend and her dad to watch it. I actually turned my phone off because I thought I was behind and didn’t want to see any messages saying congrats. I saw the bids coming from Mumbai, then Chennai, having played for Chennai earlier it was cool to see them [bidding].”
Mumbai Indians went as far as INR 18.25 crore to try and line-up Curran alongside Jofra Archer, their other big-ticket England signing at the previous auction, but they were eventually outbid by Punjab, who had begun the auction with the second-largest purse. Shortly after failing to buy Curran, Mumbai got their hands on Cameron Green for INR 17.50 crore, making the 23-year old Australian allrounder the second most expensive player in IPL auction history.
“I’m pinching myself that this has all happened. It’s such a weird feeling watching an auction for yourself. I can’t believe how nervous I was, and I was shaking like anything when the final call was confirmed,” Green said. “I’ve always been a huge fan of the IPL and it’s going to be so cool to be a part of it. The Mumbai Indians are one of the powerhouses of the competition, so I feel very humbled to be joining them. I can’t wait to get there next year.”
Green’s T20 stocks have risen significantly in the last six months. Not part of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad initially, he was a last-minute inclusion after Josh Inglis picked up an injury while playing golf. Green attracted the attention of IPL team scouts in a big way after a prolific T20I series in India this year, where he made 118 runs, including two half-centuries, at a strike rate of 214.54 at the top of the order. His ability to bat anywhere in the order and bowl at a lively pace went in his favour at the auction.
Ben Stokes then became Chennai Super Kings’ costliest signing in an auction at INR 16.25 crore, which also made him the joint-third most expensive player ever at an auction. Stokes will line up alongside MS Dhoni in the IPL once again, after a brief stint together at Rising Pune Supergiants.
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals also bid for Stokes, but it soon became clear that their limited budgets would be a constraint. Having come into the auction with INR 20.45 crore, Super Kings spent nearly 80% of their budget on Stokes alone. He is also a viable captaincy candidate as the franchise begins to explore the idea of succession planning after Dhoni.
Sunrisers break the bank for Brook and Agarwal Harry Brook also made a splash when Sunrisers Hyderabad staved off aggressive bidding from Rajasthan Royals to buy the England batter for INR 13.25 crore (USD 1.6 million approx.), the most a franchise has paid to sign an overseas batter at an auction.
Brook, 23, is set to feature in his first IPL season following a breakout year in international cricket. Only two months ago in Pakistan – his first international overseas trip – Brook impressed with his power-hitting to win the Player-of-the-Series award after hitting 238 runs at a strike rate of 163.01, in a T20I series that England won 4-3.
Brook’s superior record across all T20s in Asia – 581 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 167.43 – may have been an attractive proposition for teams. More recently, Brook put behind a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign to blast three centuries in the three-Test series that England won 3-0 in Pakistan.
Having signed Brook, Sunrisers also went hard to secure opening batter Mayank Agarwal for INR 8.25 crore (USD 1 million approx.), thereby spending nearly 51% of their auction purse of INR 42.25 crore on back-to-back buys. This meant Sunrisers, who went as high as INR 14.75 crore to try and get Stokes, eventually missed out on a marquee allrounder.
Pooran takes home more than a million dollars again Nicholas Pooran began the year by becoming the most expensive West Indian ever sold at an IPL auction, and he broke that record again when Lucknow Super Giants spent INR 16 crore (USD 2 million approx.) to buy him.
For a while, the fight for Pooran seemed to be a contest between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, but once Super Giants swooped in with a bid nearing a million dollars, it became a two-team race between them and Capitals.
Pooran’s endured a mixed year as far as his international career is concerned. He was named Kieron Pollard’s successor as West Indies’ T20I captain but stepped down following a dismal T20 World Cup campaign where West Indies failed to make it out of the first round after losses to Scotland and Ireland. He had a decent IPL 2022, though, being among the few notable performers in a disappointing season for Sunrisers. He made 306 runs including two fifties at an average of 38.25 and a strike rate of 144.33.
His power-hitting ability was most recently seen in the Abu Dhabi T10, where he was adjudged Player of the Tournament for his 345 runs, which came at an average of 49.28 and a phenomenal strike rate of 234.69.
The bargain buys Sikandar Raza broke an eight-year barren run when he became the first Zimbabwean to be bought at an IPL auction since Brendan Taylor in 2014. At his base price of INR 50 lakh, Raza could be a steal for Punjab, given the form he’s been in. Raza was the top run-getter (219 at a strike rate of 147) and second highest wicket-taker (ten wickets) for Zimbabwe at the T20 World Cup.
“As a friend, I wish someone picks him,” Hardik Pandya said with a laugh, when asked about Kane Williamson at a press conference prior to India’s T20I series against New Zealand last month. Now, they will team up at Gujarat Titans, who secured Williamson’s services at his base price of INR 2 crore. At Titans, Williamson will also be reunited with his one-time Sunrisers team-mate Rashid Khan.
Having played just one IPL game so far, in 2021 for Punjab Kings, Adil Rashid will hope for a happier second stint. At INR 2 crore, the England legspinner was a steal for Sunrisers, who may have perhaps been surprised at the lack of competition. A key member of England’s T20 World Cup-winning squad, Rashid has an excellent wrong’un, bowls ripping legbreaks, and he can bowl in the powerplay too. And he’ll probably be among the most explosive batting options at No. 10.
Royal Challengers’ new signing Reece Topley had missed out on England’s T20 World Cup squad because of injury but he had a run of impressive performances in the lead-up to the tournament. Topley’s height allows him to extract steep bounce even on docile surfaces and he has the ability to move the ball both ways. With Josh Hazlewood’s workload likely to be monitored, given Australia have potentially the World Test Championship final and Ashes coming up after the IPL, Topley is an excellent back-up option for Royal Challengers at a base price of INR 1.5 crore.
“We wanted to have a like-for-like replacement for Jason Behrendorff,” RCB head coach Sanjay Bangar said. “We’ve kept tab on most of the left-armers available. Josh isn’t going to be available for the first few games, so we looked at availability of players and that’s where Topley fit in really well. To get a high-quality performer like him adds strength to our squad.”
Knight Riders – the silent spectators Having come into the auction with the smallest purse (INR 7.05 crore), Knight Riders patiently watched proceedings; they entered the bidding just once – for South Africa batter Heinrich Klaasen – as the other franchises snapped up the first 38 players.
Curiously, Knight Riders were willing to spend INR 2.4 crore on the uncapped Jammu & Kashmir allrounder Vivrant Sharma, who was eventually bought by Sunrisers.
They came alive when they made aggressive bids to get an Indian wicketkeeper, having let B Indrajith and Sheldon Jackson go. They eventually got in-form N Jagadeesan for INR 90 lakh. Jagadeesan has been in the form of his life recently, having racked up a record five List A centuries last month.
After buying Jagadeesan, Knight Riders bought back allrounder Vaibhav Arora and tried hard to buy back fast bowler Shivam Mavi. Having released Mavi to free up INR 7.75 crore for this auction, Knight Riders went as far as INR 1 crore before bailing out. Mavi eventually went to the Titans for INR 6 crore.
Towards the end of the auction, KKR snapped up overseas allrounders Shakib Al Hasan and David Wiese, and Bangladesh opener Litton Das to strengthen their squad.
The notable uncapped Indian signings At a trial held to scout for talent in Jammu & Kashmir, one player – Vivrant Sharma – made a mark with his composure and shot selection against pace. On Friday, those impressions translated into an IPL contract for the 23-year-old allrounder when Sunrisers signed him for INR 2.6 crore, having been part of their camp as a net bowler for IPL 2022. In addition to his big hitting, Vivrant also bowls fast legbreaks and googlies.
Eight years ago, Mukesh Kumar was told he couldn’t play cricket. He was anaemic and the bone edema in his knees was supposed to make bowling impossible. Yet, he persevered and made a mark in Bengal’s competitive club circuit and also the Ranji team.
A stellar performance in 2019-20, when Bengal made the Ranji Trophy final, proved to be the turning point as Mukesh built on his breakout season to earn an India A and a national call-up earlier this year. He was meant to come in as a replacement player in 2021 for RCB but missed out after contracting Covid-19. Earlier this year, he was a net bowler for Delhi Capitals and now he’s part of their squad for a price of INR 5.5 crore, the second-highest amount spent on an uncapped Indian player this auction.
Last-minute shopping There was a flurry of activity right at the end of the auction, as teams filled up slots with players during the accelerated phase. Delhi picked up South African batter Rilee Rossouw – who was unsold earlier – for INR 4.6 crore; KKR got Shakib and Royals got Adam Zampa for INR 1.5 crore each; And England’s Joe Root secured a maiden IPL contract – also with the Royals – at his INR 1 crore base price.
(Story from ESPNcricinfo by Shashank Kishore/Photos from ESPNcricinfo)
Guyana Amazon Warriors 169/6 (Pooran 75*, Hetmyer 23; Russell 2/35, Green 1/17) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 123 all out (Mckenzie 28, Brooks 21; Smith 3/21, Motie 3/25) by 46 runs
Guyana Amazon Warriors have one foot in the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) semi-finals following a 46-run victory over the Jamaica Tallawahs
The Amazon Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first and captain Nicholas Pooran led the way with a brutal 75 not out to set the Tallawahs 170 to win.
In reply the Tallawahs succumbed to a heavy defeat as Odean Smith and Gudakesh Motie combined to bowl the Amazon Warriors to victory.
Guyana got their innings off to a steady start amassing 46 runs in the PowerPlay but they had to contend with the loss of Brandon King and Chandrapaul Hemraj in doing so.
Despite Shimron Hetmyer then running himself out, Nicholas Pooran and Shoaib Malik put together a partnership of 54 runs from 33 balls to place Guyana in a strong position with six overs to go.
Pooran then took on the responsibility of getting his side into a good position and his pyrotechnics at the back end of the innings ensured Guyana Amazon Warriors posted a very competitive 169/6.
The Tallawahs were able to keep pace with the required run rate in the early stages of their reply as Haider Ali and Kirk Mckenzie overcame the loss of Kennar Lewis to put on a 41-run partnership.
Odean Smith’s entry into the attack proved pivotal as his two wickets in two balls swung the pendulum back in Guyana’s favour and he wasn’t done there as he also got rid of Andre Russell in a wonderful wicket maiden over.
Alongside Smith, Gudakesh Motie spun a web as his three wickets helped ensure there was no chance of an unlikely win for the Tallawahs.
The victory for the Amazon Warriors means the Tallawahs will now have to win the return game to make the semi-finals.
The match belonged to Guyana Amazon Warriors’ Romario Shepherd. He first took 3 for 24 to restrict Trinbago Knight Riders to 138 for 9, then hit a nine-ball 18 to take Amazon Warriors to the same total, and finally conceded just four runs in the Super Over to help his side do the league-stage double over the defending champions.
Defending six runs in the Super Over, Shepherd first had Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard hole out first ball. Then he did not allow Colin Munro or Tim Seifert to hit a boundary off the other five balls. His all-round effort justifiably earned him a Player-of-the-Match award too.
Nicholas Pooran’s Amazon Warriors needed just 139 to win after Shepherd and offspinner Mohammad Hafeez picked three wickets each to restrict Knight Riders to a below-par total. Shepherd made the most damage in the first innings’ death overs removing Pollard, Denesh Ramdin and Isuru Udana. Hafeez had made the early inroads by dismissing opener Sunil Narine, No. 3 Tion Webster and an off-colour Tim Seifert.
Colin Munro, who struggled with a 47-ball 40 in his team’s last CPL match found his form to anchor the innings with a 28-ball 32. However regular wickets never allowed the Knight Riders to push for a big total, and if it wasn’t for Udana’s nine-ball 21 in the slog overs, the Amazon Warriors might have been chasing a much lower total.
However, the Knight Riders fought back with the ball in the second innings powerplay. Chandrapaul Hemraj and Odean Smith fell in the first two overs to Ravi Rampaul’s deliveries that had a tendency to snake into the stump line after pitching. Shimron Hetmyer and Hafeez then began a rescue act, but the Pakistan international eventually perished for a 16-ball 30. Narine then had Hetmyer and Shoaib Malik caught behind in quick succession, and after Rampaul picked off Pooran and Brandon King in consecutive balls, it looked like the Knight Riders were going to win the contest.
It however needed the Amazon Warriors’ Nos. 9 and 10 to take them to a tie. Shepherd tonked two sixes and a four to score 18, and then Naveen-Ul-Haq hit a five-ball 13. Amazon Warriors needed two off the final ball to seal a one-wicket win, but a run out while searching for the double dragged the game to overtime.
Guyana Amazon Warriors 138 for 9 (Pooran 27, Rampaul 4-29, Narine 2-9) tied with Trinbago Knight Riders 138 for 9 (Munro 32, Hafeez 3-18, Shepherd 3-24) Guyana Amazon Warriors win the one-over eliminator
A magnificent partnership between Jason Holder and Nicholas Pooran carried West Indies to a spectacular win in the second CG Insurance T20 International on Saturday night.
Holder made 52 on his home soil with a number of stunning shots – including a massive pull over square leg for six. Pooran saw the team to victory and ended on 59 not out – which included two huge sixes off spinner Ashton Turner – the first which cleared the boundary at the Malcolm Marshall End and the second which sailed over extra-cover and way beyond the boundary rope.
Akeal Hosein returned excellent figures of 3-30 (10 overs).
In the process the left-hander became the third fastest West Indian in history to reach 1,000 runs in ODI cricket in his 27th innings. The home side made 191-6 off 38 overs to win with 72 balls to spare and level the series 1 -1. This has set up a series-decider on Monday at the same venue.
The pair came together with the home side on 72-5 in the 15th over and added 93 in 20 overs to dominate the contest after Australia were bowled out for 189. The match ended in sensational fashion when Alzarri Joseph hoisted a flighted delivery from Turner over square leg for the winning boundary.
Earlier, Australia were in dire straits at 45-6 when left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein bowled a penetrative spell of 10-0-30-3. He triggered the slide when he had Moises Henriques caught at slip by Jason Holder, then cleaned bowled left-hander Alex Carey and Turner which perfectly pithed deliveries.
Joseph was also on the ball and had excellent figures of 8.1-0-39-3 including Wes Agar, who top scored with 41 before he was last man out.
A vintage Chris Gayle performance has blown away Australia and consigned them to a series-sealing defeat as the West Indies dominated their opponents in the third T20 International in St Lucia.
Gayle, months away from his 42nd birthday, emerged from a form slump to recapture his magnificent best in brutal onslaught featuring seven sixes that ensured the Windies snagged an unassailable 3-0 series lead at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
The Aussies made three changes to their side but their batters misfired for a third consecutive match as a suffocating bowling performance from the Windies, led once again by leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr. (2-18 off four overs), restricted them to 6-141.
Hayden Walsh Jr took 2-18 (4 Overs) to lead the West Indies bowling attack once again.
Recalled speedster Riley Meredith was expensive but otherwise made an encouraging return, bowling with venom and bouncing back from Gayle hitting him for back-to-back sixes (including the biggest of the night that went over the Johnson Charles stand) to dismiss the Windies No.3.
By that point Gayle had hit 67 off just 38 deliveries, allowing stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran (32no off 27) to win it with the Windies’ ninth six to seal a six-wicket win with 31 balls to spare.
Coming into Monday evening’s clash Gayle had averaged just 12.75 in nine innings since returning to the Windies T20 side earlier this year, but he delivered a statement innings to suggest he can still be a force at the highest level.
Stand in captain Nicholas Pooran celebrates victory with Andre Russell.
After crashing Josh Hazlewood for 19 runs in an electrifying start to the Windies innings, the veteran left-hander hit four sixes off Australia’s only spinner Adam Zampa, including three in a row to bring up a 33-ball half-century.
He became the first man to pass 14,000 T20 runs along the way and looks odd on to play in yet another T20 World Cup.
Only Mitchell Starc was able to curtail the Windies batters, taking 1-15 from his four overs after going wicketless in the first two games.
Hazlewood (0-33 off four), Zampa (0-34 off three) and Meredith were all expensive.
Australia shuffled their middle-order, bringing Alex Carey and Ashton Turner in for dropped Josh Philippe and the injured Ben McDermott, but it was largely the same story as the first two matches as the Windies delivered a clever bowling performance.
Aaron Finch, now with 40 runs in three innings at a strike-rate of 90.90 for the series, looked to be finding his groove but he was out to a match-turning catch by Fabian Allen in the deep.
Bravo fumbled the skied chance on the mid-wicket boundary but Allen had sprinted around from long-on to be front and centre to dive for the rebound off his teammate’s leg.
Top-scorer Moises Henriques (33 off 29) was the only Australian to hit a six, doing so twice, in an Aussie total he admitted was at least 20 runs short of par.
Series leading wicket-taker Allen continued his hold over the Aussies, with the leg-spinner taking 2-18 from four overs and was unlucky not to have a third victim when Pooran fluffed a stumping opportunity off Henriques.
Allen, the former USA player who was once a net bowler for the Aussies, now has eight wickets at 8.75 with an economy rate of 5.83.
After Finch won his third consecutive toss and, unlike Friday and Saturday’s games, elected to bat. Australia’s openers got off to their best start of the tour with Matthew Wade (23 off 14) finding the boundary four times including off Sheldon Cottrell’s first ball of the innings.
But from 0-41 in the fifth over, the familiar middle-overs struggles began as the in-form Mitch Marsh (9 off 12) and the recalled Alex Carey (13 off 9) both failed to make meaningful contributions.
A suffocating death bowling effort from the experienced Windies meant the 59-run stand between Moises Henriques (33 off 29) and Ashton Turner (24 off 22 in his first game of the series) came off a sluggish 44 balls.
Canny veteran Bravo (1-17 off three overs) delivered a terrific two-wicket final over that went for only four runs, wagging his finger at Turner and Dan Christian when he pulled off a last-ball run out following a pinpoint yorker.
Nicholas Pooran has been named as the new captain of Guyana Amazon Warriors ahead of the CPL 2021 season. The dashing ‘keeper-batsman will take over the reins from Chris Green, who has been released by the franchise. Along with Pooran, the Warriors have retained a total of 11 players from last year’s squad including the likes of Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Imran Tahir and Naveen Ul Haq. The big missing name is Mujeeb ur Rahman – the leading wicket-taker in 2020 with 16 wickets has been ignored.
Meanwhile, Andre Russell, who had a bittersweet relationship with the Tallawahs last year where he even indicated about leaving the team at the end of the tournament, will surprisingly stay with Jamaica along with fellow local stars – Carlos Brathwaite, Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton, Fidel Edwards and promising youngster in Ryan Persaud being the seventh player to be retained by the franchise.
Two-time champions Barbados Tridents have retained skipper Jason Holder despite enduring a tough 2020 campaign where they lost 7 games and failed to qualify for the semis. Apart from Holder, Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Raymon Reifer, Justin Greaves, Nyeem Young, Joshua Bishop, Johnson Charles and Hayden Walsh Jr are the others to have been given the contract extension.
Defending Champions Trinbago Knight Riders have parted ways with veteran Dwayne Bravo with the all-rounder being traded to St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots. They’ve got back Denesh Ramdin in return and overall have managed to retain the majority of the team which won them the trophy last year. Kieron Pollard will remain captain while the leading run-scorer of the previous season, Lendl Simmons, who amassed 356 runs in 11 games last season, will continue to represent the Knight Riders, in addition to other big names like Colin Munro, Sunil Narine, Darren Bravo, Sikandar Raza and Khary Pierre.
Another team that had a forgettable competition in 2020 was St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. The franchise was severely handicapped due to the absence of stars owing to Covid-19. They could muster just one win in 10 games and bagged the wooden spoon. However, the inclusion of seasoned campaigner Dwayne Bravo from TKR will be a shot in the arm for the Patriots. They have also successfully traded Sherfane Rutherford from Guyana in their bid to strengthen the batting.
The runners-up St Lucia Zouks will see a new skipper in this upcoming edition of CPL as Daren Sammy announced his decision to quit captaincy to assume the role of consultant and Brand Ambassador for the Zouks. Other prominent names to feature in the retained list are Andre Fletcher, Kesrick Williams, Rahkeem Cornwall and Roston Chase, who was the top run-getter for the franchise. But they have let go of the Afghanistan spin duo of Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan. The reason behind this move being their busy International schedule. (Story from Cricbuzz)
Retained players:
St Lucia Zouks– Andre Fletcher, Kesrick Williams, Rahkeem Cornwall, Roston Chase, Obed Mccoy, Mark Deyal and Javelle Glenn.
St Kitts & Nevis Patriots –Dwyane Bravo (from TKR), Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Sherfane Rutherford (from GAW), Sheldon Cotrell, Rayad Emrit, Jon Russ Jaggesar, Dominic Drakes, Joshua Da SIlva
The 592 Dugout 