THE Guyana Amazon Warriors’ training camp for this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) begins on Thursday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, according to Team Operations Manager, Omar Khan.The training camp will run until June 16, a day before they depart for Barbados ahead of the opening game on June 20 against the Barbados Tridents.
Khan told Chronicle Sport on Sunday that with the franchises having a make-up of regional and international T20 stars, having all the players available for early encampment is not a luxury the territories can enjoy.
However, Khan indicated that veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Christopher Barnwell, Ronsford Beaton and newcomers Assad Fudadin and Paul Wintz, along with the four Under-19 players, Shimron Hetmyer, Kemo Paul, Akshaya Persaud and Sherfane Rutherford, as well as the ICC Americas Youth Player Satsimranjit Dhindsa, will be available for the start of the camp.
Khan, a former West Indies Senior Team Manager, pointed out that Australian Brad Hodge will join the camp on June 12, while Trinidadians Sunil Narine and Lendl Simmons will join the squad on June 14.
Sri Lankan trio Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera will join the squad on June 17 in Barbados, while skipper Denesh Ramdin, Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo will be available at the end of the second Test match between West Indies and Australia. That game ends on June 15.
Guyana will host four games between July 15 and 21. Guyana Amazon Warriors will feature in all four matches, as the organisers have opted to give each franchise four home games.
On July 15, Guyana Amazon Warriors will play 2013 champions Jamaica Tallawahs at 18:00hrs; on July 17 they will come up against St Lucia Zouks at 20:00hrs; on July 18 they will play defending champions Barbados Tridents at 16:00hrs; and on July 21, they will face Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel from 18:00hrs.
Unlike previous years when Guyana hosted matches earlier in the tournament, the South American nation will now stage the final round before the two eliminators and grand final in Trinidad and Tobago.
St Kitts and Nevis will host 10 games, Trinidad and Tobago seven, while Barbados, St Lucia and Jamaica will be the venue for four matches each.
A total of 33 games are billed for this year’s tournament, which will be contested by Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs, St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St Lucia Zouks, and Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel.
St Kitts Patriots will make their maiden appearance in the tournament, replacing the Antigua Hawksbills, who played the first two editions.
Carl Hooper, the former West Indies captain, has been appointed coach of Guyana Amazon Warriors, replacing former West Indies off-spinner Roger Harper, who was the Warriors coach for the previous two tournaments.
Hooper had previously been an assistant coach for Antigua Hawksbills in 2014, and coach at the West Indies Cricket Board’s High Performance Centre in Barbados.

By Rajiv Bisnauth