Hero Caribbean Premier League 2017
– Barnwell goes to Tridents
By John Ramsingh in Barbados
The sounding of the conch shell from the sunny beach of the Lone Star Hotel in Barbados at 10:00h on Friday signaled the start of the first major event for Hero Caribbean Premier League 2017, the Player Draft. Upon arrival, guests were greeted by sweet steel pan music, Carnival models and pom pom girls who gave the unique feeling that is only associated with the biggest party in sport.
Prior to the well-organized event, the six franchise teams preparing for the fifth edition of the Hero CPL were allowed to retain as much players as possible from the 2016 segment while there were two transfers. On the eve of the Player Draft,
each franchise named their marquee players with Kane Williamson (Tridents), Martin Guptill (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Lasith Malinga (Stars), Chris Morris (Patriots), Kumar Sangakkara (Tallawahs) and Brendon McCullum (Trinbago Knight Riders) being unveiled early during the proceedings as round one picks.
The 2016 winning Captain, Chris Gayle was transferred from the Jamaica Tallawahs to the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots as their big signing for US$160,000. Which forced the champions’ camp to opt for CPL’s most successful batsman, Lendl Simmons as their top buy for US$160,000.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors and St. Lucia Stars retained nine players from 2016, St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots retained 10, Tallawahs and Tridents 11 each while Trinbago Knight Riders had the most repeat players with 12. The high numbers meant that not much was left for team at the biggest draft in the
after a successful player’s draft
tournament’s short history.
Since the Tallawahs were without Gayle, they opted for a solid opener in Simmons at the top who is the most expensive pick of the draft and was taken in round two for US$160,000. Round three had a two jaw dropping picks with Patriots going for Australian all-rounder, Ben Cutting for US$110,000. The Amazon Warriors then strategically picked up their most fancied domestic pick in wicketkeeper batsman Chadwick Walton who previously played for the Tallawahs. Walton will add to the top order strength of 2016 Captain Martin Guptill of New Zealand who was retained for US$110,000 and Australian Chris Lynn (US$90,000). Trinidadians Rayad Emrit, Jason Mohammed and Steven Katwaroo are also retained along Veerasammy Permaul, Steven Jacobs and Assad Fudadin of Guyana.
History was made in round four when Mohammad Nabi became the first player from Afghanistan to be selected for CPL when he was picked by the Patriots for US$90,000. Already missing Gayle, Walton and Andre Russell who is facing a one year anti-doping ban, the Tallawahs went for Pakistani fast bowler Muhammad Sami in round five at a price of US$70,000.
As was the case in the IPL auction in December, Nabi is joined by countryman Rashid Khan who was taken in round six by the Amazon Warriors who were represented by team Operations Manager, Omar Khan and Head Coach Roger Harper.
Mohammad Khan, the General Manager of the Tallawahs then picked West Indies under-19 winning all-rounder Gidron Pope for US$40,000. The GM of the Tallawahs said later that, Pope and Simmons were selected mainly as replacements for Gayle and Walton.
Four team s had picks at US$30,000 in round eight and it was the Barbados Tridents who picked up Pakistan’s fast bowler Wahab Riaz followed by Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) who went for 18-year old Pakistani spinner Shadab Khan. Stuart Williams, Head Coach of the St. Lucia Stars then opted for a star player in Marlon Samuels while the Amazon Warriors grabbed Steven Taylor who has CPL and Super50 experience.
Round nine raised a few eye brows with TKR going for rookie left arm spinner from Queen’s park Oval, Kharry Pierre followed by the Stars pick of Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal then the Patriots choice of Jamaican Brandon King.
Round 10 had three picks with all-rounders Rakheem Cornwall, Roshon Primus and Christopher Barnwell being snapped up for US$10,000 each. The Antiguan Cornwall will suit up for the Stars while Primus will be in the Amazon Warriors camp. As if to get back at the Amazon Warriors for taking the Barbados-born Primus, the Tridents immediately announced that Barnwell will be their choice.
After an impressive run of form recently, former West Indies U-19 batsman Gajanand Singh was roped in by the Amazon Warriors at the start of round 11 while Kyle Mayers goes to the Stars and left arm Yorker specialist, Krishmar Santokike goes to the Tallawahs for US$7,500 each. Jamaican leg spinner, Damion Jacobs was the lone pick by the Tridents in round 12.
Four players were then picked in round 13 for US$5,000 with South African Eddie Leie going to the Stars, Fabian Allen to the Patriots, speedster Keon Joseph to the Warriors and Kenar Lewis to the Tallawahs. Like Singh, Joseph has been impressive recently and is duly rewarded for their hard work and commitment.
The Tridents picked Ryan Wiggins while Andre Mc Carthy will play for the Tallawahs after being snapped up in round 14 at US$5,000. Then came a few surprises in the final round of the draft.
Colin Borde who represented the TKR submitted veteran Australian left arm spinner Brad Hogg’s name which was initially rejected by the host, Michael Hall who cited that Hogg is in the draft with a reserved fee of US$70,000 and the US$4,000 offer was not accepted. That decision was later reversed after a consultation with the auditors. Promising rookie fast bowler Jermiah Louis was then taken by the Patriots then the Tridents opted for Tino Best which brought uproar from the audience since Best will be in the same team with Kieron Pollard and Shoaib Malik whom he had previous run-ins with in CPL. Sunil Ambris for the Stars and O’Dean Smith for the Tallawahs then completed the player draft system.
Four of the franchises retained their ICC Americas players while Akeem Dodson will go to the Tridents and Tamil Patel to the Stars. In keeping with retaining players from 2016, a decision was made to retain the previous Under-19 players but to extend the age limit to Under-20. However, the Stars were forced to pick Obed McCoy after Gidron Pope was selected by the Tallawahs.
The Amazon Warriors features six new faces who have replaced Dwayne Smith, Adam Zampa, Barnwell, Nic Maddison, Orlando Peters, Anthony Bramble and Paul Wintz.
The fifth edition of the Hero CPL is expected to bowl off on August 1 at a venue to be announced while the final will be on September 9 also at a venue to be announced. However, matches will be played in the homes of the six franchises and in Fort Lauderdale Florida after a successful introduction in 2016 to North America.
