THE Guyana Amazon Warriors have been one of the consistent franchises in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), but are yet to win a title, despite reaching the final on four occasions.

However, in a bid to turn their fortunes around, during the seventh edition of the tournament, they have let go of a number of players from their 2018 squad, which included Sohail Tanvir, Chadwick Walton, Cameron Delport, Rayad Emrit, Imran Tahir, Jason Mohammed, Luke Ronchi, Roshon Primus Devendra Bishoo and Gajanand Singh.

Moreover, they also have traded South African leg-spinner Tahir for Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan, who was their most expensive player for this season.

While the tournament draft attracted some of the biggest names in international cricket, the Warriors management unit decided to give local players the opportunity to showcase their talents.

One such player is fast-rising bowling all-rounder, Clinton Pestano, who earned his maiden call-up, and is one of eight Guyanese in the 17-man squad.

The 26-year-old Rose Hall Town resident is anxiously awaiting the seventh edition of the League and sees it as yet another chance for him to continue his swift rise to recognition.

He expressed delight at being snapped up by the local franchise, adding that while he is extremely excited to be a part of this year’s tournament, he is equally excited to make it count.

“For me it’s a big step up, something which I always wanted to do – play for my home franchise. I’m hoping to represent them well and hopefully we can win the final. Definitely I am very excited to be on board,” 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.

Pestano was rewarded for being equally effective with both bat and ball in his stint with the Guyana Jaguars during the last regional four-day and Super50 tournaments, where he filled one of the all-rounder’s positions with absolute permanency.

This year’s tournament runs from September 4 to October 12.

Guyana Amazon Warriors: Shadab Khan (Pakistan), Nicholas Pooran (Trinidad and Tobago), Shoaib Malik (Pakistan), Shimron Hetmyer (Guyana), Ben Laughlin (Australia), Chris Green (Australia), Keemo Paul (Guyana), Sherfane Rutherford (Guyana), Brandon King (Jamaica), Romario Shepherd (Guyana), Odean Smith (Jamaica), Keagan Simmons (Trinidad and Tobago), Chandrapaul Hemraj (Guyana), Veerasammy Permaul (Guyana), Anthony Bramble (Guyana), Clinton Pestano (Guyana) and Saurab Netravalkar (ICC Americas)

Former Guyana Amazon Warriors players Christopher Barnwell (St Lucia Stars) and Steven Jacobs (Jamaica Tallawahs) were the other Guyanese bought at the Draft.