AS the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) prepares to bowl off its fifth edition on August 4 in St Lucia, the Guyana Amazon Warriors, one of the tournament’s most storied teams, will be hoping not only to reach the final for a fourth time, but also to hoist the coveted title.
According to Steven Jacobs, the side is wary of making it to the ‘promised land’ and coming up short, despite having one of the most balanced sides.
“Coming into this year, it’s a fresh start and we just want to go out this year and bring home the bacon,” Jacobs told Chronicle Sport in an exclusive interview following the announcement of GTT as his team’s Signature Sponsor.
“I mean, it’s been eluding us from the inception. Reaching the final and losing is very heartbreaking, so we want to do it for the fans this year,” said Jacobs.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors had featured in every final of the CPL, with the exception of the 2015 edition where they finished third behind winners Trinbago Knight Riders and Barbados Trident in the seven-team tournament.
However, they’ve never lifted the trophy which was won twice by the Jamaica Tallawahs (2013 and 2016) and once by the Trinbago Knight Riders (2015) and Barbados Tridents (2014).
Looking ahead at the team’s composition, Jacobs, who bowls right-arm off-breaks, believes the side this year is “very similar in comparison to last year’s. We basically have the same set of guys and the new kid on the block Rashid Khan, so I think we have a good team and once we play to the best of our ability, we should come out on top.”
Khan, the 18-year-old Afghanistan leg-spin sensation, was the eye-candy in this year’s Indian Premier League where he played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, a usual opener for the Warriors, will be back in the lineup this year, as well as Australia’s Chris Lynn.
No Christopher Barnwell this year for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, with the 30-year-old all-rounder being bought by the Barbados Trident.
Steven Taylor, the 23-year-old left-handed middle-order batsman from the USA, will be donning the colours of the Warriors this year, after debuting in the CPL with the Barbados Trident in 2015 and featuring in last year’s tournament with the Jamaica Tallawahs.
Trinidadian Roshon Primus is another newcomer to the Warriors, along with Jamaican hard-hitting opener Chadwick Walton and Guyanese right-arm fast-medium bowler Keon Joseph.
The Guyana National Stadium will host the Guyana Amazon Warriors versus Jamaica Tallawahs game on August 17, Trinbago Knight Riders two days later, followed by a clash against Barbados Tridents on August 22, and would wrap up their four-game home stand against the St Lucia Zouks.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors 2017 team; Martin Guptill, Rayad Emrit, Sohail Tanvir, Chadwick Walton, Christopher Lynn, Rashid Khan, Jason Mohammed, Steven Taylor, Veerasammy Permaul, Roshon Primus, Gajanand Singh, Assad Fudadin, Steven Jacobs, Keon Joseph, Steven Katwaroo, Shimron Hetmyer, and Muhammad Ali Khan.