By: Curtis Morton
Former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist could have played his last competitive match after he pulled out from the Caribbean Premier League due to an ankle injury.
Gilchrist turned up for Kings XI Punjab in this year’s IPL after saying he was “finished” last year and signed off by claiming his first wicket in a two-decade career. Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik has replaced Gilchrist in the franchise player line-up.
The league also announced the line-up of marquee players and coaches for each of its six franchises. The full squads of each franchise will be determined through a player draft on June 5.
Preparations for the tournament, which starts on July 30, have not been entirely smooth, with CPL operations manager Carlisle Powell expressing concern that the venues for the leagues have not been finalised yet.
“We’re dealing with six different governments,” Powell said at a press conference on Tuesday. “As a former minister of government (in Nevis), I can tell you things do not always move fast in government.”
“Do I wish for anything to change? Yes. If I had the choice, all the venue agreements would have been signed a month ago, and all the sponsorship arrangements would have been completed,” he said. “If we don’t have signed venue agreements, we simply do not have homes for our franchises.”
With the tournament scheduled to begin in two months’ time, Powell met with the Ministry of Tourism and the respective venue owners to enlist their help in fixing the venues as soon as possible.
“What I have to do as operations manager now is follow (up) very closely with those governments, because we need venue agreements signed,” he said. “We are asking for the Ministries of Tourism to partner with us in each of the six franchise locations.”
The franchise teams, players and coaches as announced on Wednesday are:
Team Antigua:
WI Franchise Player: Marlon Samuels
Intl Franchise Player: Ricky Ponting
Head Coach: Sir Vivian Richards
Asst. Coach: Phillip DeFreitas
Team Barbados:
WI Franchise Player: Kieron Pollard
Intl Franchise Player: Shoaib Malik (replaces injured Adam Gilchrist)
Head Coach: Desmond Haynes
Asst. Coach: Robin Singh
Team Guyana:
WI Franchise Player: Sunil Narine
Intl Franchise Player: Mohammad Hafeez
Head Coach: Roger Harper
Asst. Coach: Curtly Ambrose
Team Jamaica:
WI Franchise Player: Chris Gayle
Intl Franchise Player: Muttiah Muralitharan
Head Coach: Paul Nixon
Asst. Coach: Junior Bennett
Team St. Lucia:
WI Franchise Player: Darren Sammy
Intl Franchise Player: Herschelle Gibbs
Head Coach: Andy Roberts
Asst. Coach: Matthew Maynard
Team Trinidad
WI Franchise Player: Dwayne Bravo
Intl Franchise Player: Ross Taylor
Head Coach: Gordon Greenidge
Asst. Coach: David Williams