Hero Caribbean Premier League has confirmed that the highly anticipated Player Draft will take place on Thursday March 1. This will be when the six franchises will select their lineups for the sixth edition of the tournament which will take place between August 8 and September 16 this year.
As ever, the Hero CPL will have the best cricketers taking part in the tournament, from around the world as well as from across the Caribbean. The window for this year’s event means that there are no West Indies fixtures that clash with the Hero CPL so the very best West Indian players will be available for selection.
This year the draft will take place in London, which is a reflection of the global nature of the tournament. With owners and sponsors from around the world investing in the Hero CPL and the Caribbean as a whole having the draft in London helps from a logistics point of view and helps sell the region to a global audience.
Speaking about the upcoming draft Damien O’Donohoe, CEO of Hero CPL, said: “Our draft is such an important date in the Hero CPL calendar. It is when we get to find out who will be coming to join the ‘Biggest Party in Sport.’ We know that the quality of players that we have coming to this year’s tournament will generate a huge amount of excitement.
“While the Hero CPL is about bringing the Carnival atmosphere to cricket, the quality of the sport on display is just as important. The world-class cricketers that will be selected on March 1 are what make the cricket at Hero CPL so special.”
This year marks the first time that this very important aspect of the Hero Caribbean Premier League will be hosted outside of the Caribbean. In 2017, the Player Draft took place at the Lone Star Hotel on the West Coast of Barbados in a carnival-like atmosphere right next to the beach.
In 2017, the Guyana Amazon Warriors acquired the services of 18-year old Afghanistan leg spinning sensation Rashid Khan who had an impact in his debut season.
Trinbago Knight Riders are the defending champions after beating first-time finalists St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the 2017 final at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy which hosted CPL matches for the first time last year.
