By Rajiv Bisnauth
FAST bowler Paul Wintz is anxiously awaiting the fourth edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as yet another chance for him to continue his swift rise to recognition.Following the Player Draft in February, Wintz was snapped up by the Guyana Amazon Warriors for a second time.
The 30-year-old made his maiden appearance in 2015, but played just one game against St Lucia Zouks at Gros Islet.
However, in an exclusive interview on Thursday, Wintz told this publication that while he is extremely excited to be a part of the fourth edition of the tournament, he is looking forward to play more games this time around.
“Definitely I am very excited to be on board with CPL again, but I am really looking forward to playing more games this time around,” he said.
The all-rounder further pointed out that he is even more excited to rub shoulders with the foreign players and gain from their experiences.
Commenting on the squad, Wintz said, “I think we have a well balanced squad and I am confident we will cross that final hurdle this time.”
The Amazon Warriors have been one of the most consistent performers in the CPL. They reached the final in the inaugural 2013 season where they were beaten by Jamaica Tallawahs and repeated their feat the following year, only to be downed by Barbados Tridents in a dramatic final in St Kitts.
The squad this year includes six specialist batsmen – New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, Barbados’ Dwayne Smith, Australia’s Chris Lynn, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jason Mohammed, Antigua’s Orlando Peters and Guyana’s Assad Fudadin.
Sohail Tanvir of Pakistan, Christopher Barnwell and Steven Jacobs of Guyana, and Rayad Emrit of Trinidad & Tobago are the all-rounders, while the bowlers are Veerasammy Permaul and Paul Wintz (Guyana), Adam Zampa (Australia) and Muhammad Ahsan Ali Khan (ICC Americas). Steven Katwaroo (Trinidad & Tobago) is the other wicketkeeper while Shimron Hetmyer is the Under-19 player.
Captain Guptill was bought as the marquee player, while those retained from last year were Permaul, Barnwell and leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo.
However, Bishoo, being a centrally contracted West Indies Cricket Board player, could only be chosen as a replacement, but not as frontline selection.
He has been retained and could be called upon to play providing he is not on West Indies duties.
In the space of six years, Wintz has played just three regional T20 matches.
He has an impressive List A career, capturing 32 wickets from 19 games at average of 19, and an economy rate of 4.62. Wintz also has a highest score of 38 not out and an average of 16.
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.