Sweeping changes likely for Guyana Amazon Warriors

SWEEPING changes are reportedly coming to the Guyana Amazon Warriors franchise squad, involving the management, coach and players for the impending 2016 season.According to a usually reliable source, there are almost certain to be changes in the managerial position, currently held by Trinidadian Omar Khan, coach Carl Hooper and captain Dinesh Ramdin.
The source also disclosed that contrary to earlier reports, it’s highly unlikely that Guyana will host the 2016 semi-finals and final and there’s also the distinct possibility that several of the matches involving the Warriors will be played in Florida and not at the Guyana National Stadium.
In addition to those impending changes, the squad is also expected to take on a new look as several players who were part of the 2015 side will not return when the fourth edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) draft takes place next month.
The Warriors have failed to win any of the three tournaments despite reaching the finals in 2013 and 2014 and being knocked out in last year’s semi-final versus Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel; and this has reportedly not gone down well with the authorities in charge of the Guyana-based franchise.
In 2013, under coach Roger Harper and skippered by former Guyana and West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, the Warriors went down to the Jamaica Talllawahs by seven wickets after being restricted to 128 for five in their allotted 20 overs. The Tallawahs replied with 129 for three in 17.3 overs.
The following year, under the same coach and captain, the Warriors lost to the Barbados Tridents in a rain-marred controversial final. Chasing a challenging 153 for victory after the Tridents had reached 152 for six, the Warriors were 107 for four in 15.5 overs when the rains intervened, thereby going down via the Duckworth-Lewis system.
The fate of marquee off-spinner Sunil Narine is also in the balance, with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) advising recently that the Trinidadian will not be allowed to participate in the Nagico limited overs tournament, due to commence on January 7 after his bowling action was deemed illegal by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Whether or not Narine’s eligibility will be under scrutiny by the CPL authorities is left to be seen. He has already been retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders for this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament.
Narine’s Trinidadian compatriot Lendl Simmons, through is Facebook page, has already indicated that he’s not returning to the Amazon Warriors, posting: “It was a good three years in yellow and green, but all good things come to an end.” Pressed for an explanation, Simmons indicated that he’s no longer wanted by the Warriors and expects to be drafted by the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel.
A few days ago, the CPL announced a number of changes to its player-draft format for 2016.
According to the new rules, the six franchise teams will be allowed to sign one “marquee” player as a free agent before the draft process begins. The CPL also disclosed that over the last two months the teams have been in negotiations with the best players in world cricket and will be announcing their marquee stars within the first few weeks of this month.
The number of players that the franchises can retain before the player draft has been reduced from four to three, whilst the squad size has been increased from 16 to 17 for the new season.
Further changes to the rules include the number of players who must live in the franchise territory being reduced from four to two, whilst the limit on overseas players has increased from four to five. 2015 also saw the introduction of ICC Americas players, with two being selected for the Tridents and Patriots squads. In 2016, at least six ICC Americas players will be guaranteed a contract.
Overall, the salary cap for each team has increased to US$780k from US$600k.
Commenting on the changes to the format, Tom Moody, International Director of Cricket for the CPL, said: “Our aim each year is to make CPL even bigger and better so that we can attract the best T20 players in the world and make it as entertaining as possible for the fans. Over the past few months we’ve worked alongside the franchise owners to make sure that the 2016 player draft is open and competitive so that the buzz and excitement of CPL will start building from January right through to the tournament launch in the summer.
From early January 2016 we’ll start to reveal the franchise marquee players and the retained players, so that by the time the draft comes around in February fans will already have plenty to talk about.”
The 2016 Hero CPL Player Draft will take place in February 2016 with further announcements due in the coming weeks.