From a strong IPL influence to persistent questions over financial sustainability, here are four talking points as CPL 2016 gets underway
Colin Benjamin30-Jun-2016Ever since Carlos Brathwaite’s heroics in the World T20 final in April this year, West Indian fans have been waiting to celebrate their world-champion cricketers. They were denied an opportunity to do so during the tri-series against Australia and South Africa in June, after Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy and Andre Russell were left out of the team because of their absence from the WICB’s List A tournament.This then is an opportunity for fans to celebrate with their winning stars in a tournament that also has a strong IPL influence and the best selection of overseas talent. From a West Indies perspective, here are four points of note for this season.Emerging playersWest Indies coach Phil Simmons told after CPL 2015 that, “The tournament is good, but not enough young West Indian players came to the fore. Just the established stars and the overseas players and as coach I would have liked to see more from the young players. I hope that improves in next year’s competition.”Unless the WICB changes its selection policy, or is disbanded in July’s CARICOM government meeting, most of the senior West Indies players could be excluded for a longer period. Thus, big performances in a platform like the CPL will be key for a few next-generation players looking to make a mark.One of them is 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran [Barbados Tridents], who made his T20 debut against Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2013 edition of the tournament. He showed his abilities in a knock of 143 against Australia at the 2014 Under-19 World Cup. He will return to competitive cricket for the first time since December 2014, following a recovery from a car accident that injured his left leg in January 2015. Pooran will have to build on his early potential as West Indies could do with more back-up options for their first-choice wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.The tournament also presents an opportunity for quick bowlers like Ronsford Beaton [Trinbago Knight Riders] and Delorn Johnson [St Lucia Zouks], and allrounders Kyle Mayers [Zouks] and Raymon Reifer [Tridents]. West Indies are short of options in the fast bowling department, even as the selection status of senior allrounders, Bravo, Russell and Sammy, remains unclear.Offspinner Jon-Russ Jaggesar, who played a key role in Trinidad & Tobago’s title win in the Nagico Super50 competition this season with 14 wickets, will be able to test his guile against established international batsmen when he takes the field for Jamaica Tallawahs. Another young player to watch out for is Shimron Hetmyer [Guyana Amazon Warriors], who led West Indies to victory at the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year.One interesting subplot in the tournament is be the presence of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who is part of the Knight Riders’ squad. Sarwan hasn’t played competitive cricket in almost two years but could be an important figure for the team once Darren Bravo leaves for the India Tests. After Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s retirement, young batsmen like Shai Hope and Jermaine Blackwood have not been convincing, so the tournament is a chance for Sarwan to remind the selectors of his quality.The clash with the India TestsOne of the biggest issues for contracted West Indies players who were likely to feature in the home Tests against India was that they would not be allowed to participate in the CPL.Earlier this month, however, the WICB released five players – captain Jason Holder, batsman Darren Bravo, allrounder Carlos Brathwaite, legspinner Devendra Bishoo, and wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin for the T20 tournament. They have been permitted to remain with their franchises until July 11, ten days before the first Test against India in Antigua. Marlon Samuels, Man of the Match in the World T20 final, was not picked by any franchise during the draft in February this year.During the tri-series in Barbados, Simmons explained the rationale behind the decision to allow players. “It was an easy decision, we would have a five-day camp, then three days before the first test”, he said. “It’s something that everybody in world cricket allows. Joe Root just played a Twenty20 game in between the England and Sri Lanka Tests and, when we were in Australia, [Usman] Khawaja played a few T20 games before the Melbourne Test and came into that game with brilliant form.”A tender for the finals venue is an important source of income for the CPL but questions remain on the league’s financial sustainability•Caribbean Premier LeagueFinancial sustainabilityIn an interview to ESPNcricinfo recently, CPL CEO Damien O’Donohoe offered an interesting insight into how the league made money, particularly through tenders for hosting the finals.”We tender the finals, and last year it couldn’t have been a bigger success than it was in Trinidad,” he said. “The government there paid a decent sum – US$3.5 million – to get the finals last year. Now we’re still in negotiations in relation to the finals, because Trinidad’s economy’s been badly hit with the oil prices and they’re in deep recession. They don’t have that level of money to pay, which is a big challenge for us because that’s a very important revenue line for us. What I explained to the government is that the final is one thing, but actually supporting the team is a huge part of making CPL work long term.”Months of speculation over Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago and Florida hosting the final was put to rest when it was announced only days before the start of the tournament that St Kitts would host the final. According to local media reports in T&T, the government did not want to give US $1 million in foreign currency to host the finals when the country is facing a shortage of foreign exchange. Instead they wanted pay the CPL in T&T currency, which the organisers reportedly rejected.Unlike the IPL and the Big Bash League – where the BCCI and Cricket Australia have strong control over the organisation of the tournament and infrastructure – the WICB have sold the rights to run the tournament in the West Indies. The question, therefore, is how sustainable will it be, in the long term, for cash-strapped CARICOM governments to pay money to host CPL finals?The CPL is a welcome initiative that has also brought in funds for the domestic competitions, but many have criticised the WICB for signing a 50-year contract with the league. This was reportedly one of the factors that led to Dave Cameron’s election over Julian Hunte as WICB president in 2013. Concerns remain over whether the board needed to sign such a long-term contract, considering the uncertain fixtures climate in world cricket.The IPL influenceWhen CPL first started in 2013, there was no indication that linking up IPL teams was part of the league’s plans. In the inaugural year, Hollywood actors Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler purchased stakes in Barbados Tridents and Jamaica Tallawahs respectively.Over the last two years, however, the CPL has stumbled upon partnerships with IPL teams. The owners of IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders bought the Trinidad & Tobago team, and renamed it Trinbago Knight Riders, and Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, former owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore, purchased Tridents. As Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore said, the IPL-CPL partnerships are potentially “perfect marriages”.West Indies’ legendary commentator Tony Cozier had earlier revealed before Mallya’s acquisition that the league was contemplating disbanding the Tridents as it had done with the Antigua franchise in 2015.In the current global climate of co-operation at the ICC, perhaps what Mysore and Mallya are doing could lead to the CPL being the first of many T20 leagues where Indian players will be allowed to participate.
