By Rajiv Bisnauth

DESPITE unfavourable weather conditions yesterday, the Guyana Amazon Warriors commenced a one-week training camp under the guidance of head coach Roger Harper, and his technical support team at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.The camp, a customary practice for teams preparing for competitions, is a vital one for the local franchise, who will look to stuff a heavy workload in the next week with the aim of getting to peak condition for the Hero Caribbean Premier League.
Five players were missing from yesterday’s training. However, Harper confirmed that Pakistani Sohail Tanvir was expected to arrive last evening while Barbadian Dwayne Smith will arrive sometime today.
Australian Chris Lynn, is expected to arrive within the coming days. Skipper Martin Guptill and leg-spinner Adam Zampa, will not be available for the camp.
Guptill is currently playing NatWest one-day cricket in England, while leg-spinner Zampa is part of the Australia line-up for the ongoing Ballr Tri-Nation Series. The duo will join the squad at the start of the competition.
Under Harper, who was the coach for the first two years of the tournament, the Guyana Amazon Warriors will be looking to win the tournament for the first time, after finishing as runners-up, losing to Jamaica Tallawahs in 2013 and Barbados Tridents in 2014.
Harper stated that the camp is basically an acquaintance exercise for the players, since most of them will be with each other for the first time.
Harper believes the Amazon Warriors have the right combination of players to go the distance this year.
During the encampment period, the Amazon Warriors players are also expected to be involved in game simulation exercises.
The Warriors have gone for 11 regional-based players including Smith, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jason Mohammed, Rayad Emrit and Steven Katwaroo; Antigua’s Orlando Peters, Guyana’s Assad Fudadin, Christopher Barnwell, Steven Jacobs, Veerasammy Permaul, Paul Wintz and Anthony Bramble.
The squad has Muhammad Ahsan Ali Khan (ICC Americas) and winning West Indies Youth World Cup captain Shimron Hetmyer, who was selected as the Under-19 player.
The local franchise has taken a decision to include Under-19 players, Akshaya Persaud, Keemo Paul and Tevin Imlach, as part of the camp in order to expose them at a different level.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors will play 10 games in the preliminary phase of the League, with four matches in Guyana, two in Florida, and one each in Trinidad & Tobago, St Kitts & Nevis, Jamaica and St Lucia. Hero CPL 2016 will be held from June 29 to August 7.