PRIOR to the start of the inaugural Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in 2013, former West Indies captain and batting legend Sir Vivian Richards believed the League would provide young cricketers an opportunity to display and hone their skills in a competitive environment.
Richards had also said the tournament should give the young players an opportunity to assess their professional career.
And over the years the tournament has definitely proved to be the gateway for a number of young professionals, not only in the Caribbean, but also in most cricket-playing nations.
This year’s sixth edition will commence on August 8, and, as usual will be no different, with a number of young players having the opportunity to further enhance their cricketing career.
One such player will be the talented Guyanese all-rounder, Keemo Paul, who has proven to be quite a force at the regional scene.
At present he can be compared to the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Dwayne Smith – bowling right arm medium pace. The 20-year-old was one of Guyana’s most valuable players during the recently concluded regional tournaments, where he performed creditably with bat and ball under extreme pressure.
His performances did not go unnoticed, as he was drafted into the West Indies A team for the current series against England Lions and subsequently snapped up by the Guyana Amazon Warriors for the sixth edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League.
While the CPL is still some distance away, Paul says he’s definitely looking forward to the tournament, and thinks it is a great prospect for any young person, or any player in the Caribbean for that matter, to get himself out there.
“Well, it’s a great feeling to be a part of the biggest party in sport, so I’m definitely looking forward to CPL this year. I’m looking forward to the packed stadiums and energetic crowds, but I’m also looking forward to putting in a consistent performance and making an impact this year,” the former West Indies Under-19 player stated.
The Warriors will boast a strong team with the likes of international Twenty20 stars such as Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Malik, Cameron Delport and Imran Tahir, international and regional players like Luke Ronchi, Chadwick Walton, Rayad Emrit and Jason Mohammed.
They will be joined by an array of local stars, including Veerasammy Permaul, Shimron Hetmyer and Devendra Bishoo.
Paul says he believes the Warriors possess the ability to go all the way in the tournament.
“Well, the squad looks pretty good…very balanced, so once we play the quality of cricket we know, our chances of winning are definitely possible, so I just backing the team to do it this year and to win the title which has been evading us,” he said.
