‘Biggest Party in Sport’ to bowl off in Guyana

…5 matches likely for Providence

By Clifton Ross

Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Pete Russell confirmed that the sixth edition of the “Biggest Party In Sport” will bowl off in Guyana and that the cricket crazy nation will also see an increased number of matches being played at Providence.
Russell who spoke exclusively to Guyana Times International Sport on Wednesday during an official visit to Guyana said that in addition to the tournament’s curtain raiser being held in Guyana there is a possibility that the Guyana Amazon Warriors will have ‘two bites of the cherry’ at home.

The COO said that the local franchise will likely host three matches at Providence at the start of the tournament and will wrap up the competition with an additional two matches towards the back end of the five-week tournament.
According to Russell, Guyana will indeed be hosting the opening matches this year, making it a first for the country since the launch of the competition back in 2013.
The COO noted that while the previous player-drafts were held in the Caribbean, this year may see the March 1 draft taking place in London. While Russell did not fully confirm London as the final destination he was upbeat, stating that the London time is prime for most audiences especially in Australia, New Zealand and in India and the other parts of Asia where there are likely to have a lot of eyeballs.
Also, the COO added that it was critical for more young players to be introduced to the CPL as it is in their plans to use the league as a direct feeding system into the Windies team.
He pointed out that emphasis will be placed on roping in more Under-19 players as they have been making significant impacts over the seasons while some of them have even gone onto play for their countries at the senior level or West Indies.
Regarding teams’ player retention rule and salary cap, Russell said that no changes were made to the rules, adding that CPL wants to build a fan base for its die-hard followers with regards to minimizing players being shuffled around the respective franchises every season.
From a financial perspective, Guyana recorded some US$14 million or 2.8 Billion Guyana dollars in turnovers from last year’s CPL, prompting the COO to hail the tournament’s value as a marketable product which has been slowly reshaping the landscape of the sport Regionally.
This year’s CPL is set to bowl off early in August and will run up until September the same window period that was used in 2017.