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CPL bowls off on September 4, final for Brian Lara Stadium on Oct. 12Female exhibition game on the cards
By Zaheer Mohamed
Pete Russell – CPL Chief Operations Officer Pete Russell speaking at the press conference held yesterday.
Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Pete Russell indicated that the schedule for this year’s tournament has been pushed back because of the Indian tour here and will commence on September 4 in Trinidad and Tobago while the final will be played at the Brian Lara Stadium on October 12.
Speaking at a press conference held yesterday at the Guyana Marriott, where he briefed the media about a few developments within the CPL, Russell stated that the reason for the re-schedule is because they want the best talent in the Caribbean to be playing in the league.
“We have got all the stars back which is great and a clean window and we are very excited about that, he noted. Russell said the other big development is they work very close with Cricket West Indies (CWI), whereby each franchise team will have to automatically select two players from their development squad to be part of the team.
“What this means is that, it allows us to keep progression of young talent coming through as you would have seen in Guyana more than anywhere else with the likes of Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford. Our intention is to get more West Indian cricketers into CPL and one of those players would have to be in the starting eleven. So the onus is on the teams to make sure they select the best talent.”
He feels that the change in the time schedule will not hamper the attendance at the games. “CPL is very much in the hearts and minds of the people around the region and the product is strong enough now so people can come and watch any day of the week.”
“The great thing about CPL is that you don’t have to go sell it; people want to come to the Caribbean and watch cricket and it’s a very easy place for these superstars to come because they don’t get hassle all the time as compared to some other parts of the world like India.”
Russell stated that International leagues around the world are too long whereas CPL lasted for just over five weeks and a double header on weekends which is what players want and also what fans prefer.
He informed that no games will be played in Florida this season. “Florida definitely will be on the agenda going forward, it wasn’t so successful there last year and the obvious chance is if you don’t have Trinidad and Guyana playing there it’s very difficult to get a crowd.”
Russell pointed out that International players have been reduced from five (5) to four (4) in a side, stating that CPL is a Caribbean product and should be encouraged throughout the region, however franchises can purchase up to five (5) international players as compared to six (6) that was allowed last year.
When quizzed about staging a women’s tournament, he said, “that will be a massive undertaking and we need to make women part of CPL and as such a women’s exhibition game is carded prior to the final. We will be meeting with CEO of CWI on Monday in Barbados and that’s the time for us to understand the agenda of the new administration as we want to work closer with them to develop the game in the region,” he added.
There are more West Indies players in IPL this year than any other country and Russell stated that the reason IPL wants to pick them up is because they are the most exciting T20 players around the world, adding that they have a great product and the younger players are inspired.
The CPL draft will be held on May 22 at the Gfinity eSports Arena in Fulham Broadway, London.
The event will be live streamed and will be hosted by Alex Jordan along with former international cricketers, Mark Butcher and Daren Ganga. Guyana is expected to host seven matches with its first on September 5.
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