The Trinbago Knight Riders made only three picks at the 2017 CPL draft yesterday as they stuck to their core players in an effort to build their unit.
Team operations manager Colin Borde showed up alone to take part in the draft and went for three spinners as his pick because the team retained 12 of their players from last year. Leading the pack at US$160,000 was Dwayne Bravo who skippered the team last year. The players retained from last year are Brendan McCullum at US$130,000, Sunil Narine (US$110,000), South African Hashim Amla at US$90,000, Darren Bravo (US$70,000), Denesh Ramdin (US$60,000), Colin Munroe ($40,000), Ronsford Beaton (US$10,000), Javon Searles (US$7500), Nikita Miller (US$7500), William Perkins (US$5000) and Kevon Cooper (US$5,000).
The three men the Knight Riders went for were spinners Brag Hogg from Australia (US$4,000), Shadab Khan (US$30,000) from Pakistan and Kharry Pierre (US$15,000).
Speaking to Guardian Media after the draft, Borde said: “We went for spinners as our pick because of the nature of the tracks in the Caribbean. We have included Brad Hogg who everyone who has played with him thinks he is the right man to have around any franchise. Kharry Pierre is new to the CPL but not new to regional cricket and we think that he has a contribution to make to our team.
“Apart from those, we decided to stick with our tried and trusted players from last year because we want to build a solid unit going forward. Looking around at the players who have been chosen, we think that we have a good team that can challenge for the title. Last year Chris Gayle and Andre Russell took us out at the semifinals and this time around we will be coming back to go all the way and lift the title.”
Among some of the notable acquisitions for the other teams were that of Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting who has been recruited by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, while West Indies ICC World T20 winner Marlon Samuels has joined the St Lucia Stars. Samuels was not the only high profile Caribbean capture, with the Jamaica Tallawahs signing up batsman Lendl Simmons. Chadwick Walton has made the move, meanwhile, to Guyana Amazon Warriors and looks set to be a strong addition to their batting line-up.
For the first time ever, there will be an Afghanistan presence in the Hero CPL, with Mohammad Nabi (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots) and Rashid Khan (Guyana Amazon Warriors) being snapped up. Barbados Tridents have also supplemented their bowling attack with the signing of Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz.
In addition to the high-profile acquisition of New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson, coupled with the return of Dwayne Smith following his transfer from Guyana Amazon Warriors, the Tridents have retained Pakistan’s Shaoib Malik and South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell as they bid to win the coveted title they last won in 2014. Kieron Pollard will lead an exciting team which includes wicket-keeper/batsman Nicholas Pooran, who impressed following his comeback from a long injury lay-off joined the likes of Ravi Rampaul and emerging West Indies player Shamar Springer for the forthcoming campaign.
Guyana Amazon Warriors have been one of the most consistent sides since the tournament’s inception in 2013 and that is reflected in the retention of a number of stalwarts including Black Caps opener Martin Guptill, in-form Australian batsman Chris Lynn and Pakistan’s towering left-armer Sohail Tanvir who was one of the most consistent performers in 2016 with bat and ball. In addition, the squad will include West Indies duo Rayad Emrit and Jason Mohammed, as well as exciting batsman Shimron Hetmyer who led the West Indies to the Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup title last year.