“A big hit” is how former West Indies all-rounder and coach of the Guyana Amazon Warriors franchise, Roger Harper, described the inaugural edition of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (LCPL), which took the Caribbean and beyond by storm during July-August last.
In an exclusive interview, the 50-year-old, who led the Amazon Warriors to the runner-up spot against the Jamaica Tallawahs in the final, shared his thoughts on the 2013 tournament, which attracted massive crowds at venues across the region.
“I think it was an excellent tournament,” he said. “It certainly caught the public’s attention and the players also bought into it… it was a big hit all round,” he said.
Harper said he was impressed that the organisers were able to “hit the ground running”, as the tournament was able to create an immediate impact on the cricket-loving Caribbean population.
2014
Looking ahead to the second instalment of the league in 2014, Harper said he is keen on having the franchises retain as many players as possible so as to have “continuity”, while he also advocated for larger squads to create more options for the team management. Each of the six franchises was afforded a total of 15 players during the first tournament.
“I’m not sure what will happen in terms of retaining players. That [retaining players] is important because you want to create a nucleus so as to build on what was achieved in 2013,” Harper pointed out. “I also feel that the squads should be larger, so in the case of players becoming injured and others having to leave for other engagements, you have a wider pool to choose from.”
During the inaugural LCPL, the Amazon Warriors were set back by the departure of a few players, namely all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, who had to join the Pakistan team, and New Zealand’s opening batsman Martin Guptill, who was forced out through injury.
They were later replaced by the Sri Lankan duo, opener Tillekeratne Dilshan and fast bowler Lasith Malinga.
Challenge
Looking deep into the future, and giving his thoughts on what he would like to see the LCPL evolve into, the former West Indies vice-captain and coach said the league must rise to become the best T20 tournament in the world.
“The LCPL will have to look at the IPL [Indian Premier League] and aim to get close to that. It will be difficult to compete with the IPL, but that should be the aim…get as close as possible and challenge them for the title of best T20 league.”
