Dear Editor,
AS the senior players Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis and skipper Dwayne Bravo all failed to reach double figures, the young players Dominic Drakes, Joshua Da Silva, Fabian Allen and Sherfane Rutherford sparkled as they took the 2021 Caribbean Premier League title to the Patriots. It was indeed an exciting and thrilling finish to the highly competitive 2021 CPL.

All thirty-three games were keenly contested. It was a tough struggle to get into the final four for the semi-finals play off. The powerful Barbados Tridents failed to reach in the semi-finals and they were at the bottom of the points table. The powerful Jamaica Tallawahs were also denied a place among the top four teams.

However, it was the elimination of the defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders and the Guyana Amazon Warriors removal at the semi-finals that really gave the Leewards and Windwards Islands teams the opportunity to give the home crowd joy and satisfaction.

At the end of the 2021 CPL, the Franchise owners must take a serious look at their investment. Sport is a business and while the sportsmen/ the players are looking forward for their money’s worth, the franchise owners, who are putting their money and time into the event, must demand results. While it is clear that only one team can win each year it is imperative that the administrators and the players give of their best and bring that fair amount of satisfaction to all.

A careful look at the GAW reveals that the batsmen were a total failure. The top four batsmen, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Chandrapaul Hemraj not to mention the inclusion of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, failed to bat consistently. The inclusion of Anthony Bramble in the team created a vacuum, with one less prominent batsman.

Three players who were expected to play as batsmen and score runs failed miserably. As for the bowling, Romario Sheperd is our lead bowler and the certainty in the team. Whenever, we need a pinch hitter the first choice must be Sheperd. Odean Smith is a pretty good fast bowler but he needs to be nurtured and assisted so that he could be a match winner. With only two quick bowlers in the team the franchise must find a genuine quick bowler in the team.

As for the spinners, we must take into consideration of the fact that the CPL will be played in the Caribbean. Hence, the team must have very good spinners. Gudakesh Motie is our best spinner; he is a very good fielder and a reliable lower order batsman. He was certainly not properly utilised in the competition. Kevin Sinclair and Ashmead Nedd are two bowlers with talent and potential. The franchise holder must be careful with the aging Imran Tahir, and we must look for a better bowler than Naveen-ul-Haq.

The leadership must accept that in one match the Warriors put down seven catches. While in many ways the fielding was good, the GAW must be better in the field. In the CPL, we must have less dot balls. The batting team must score off almost every ball while the bowlers must bowl to their field and stifle the batsmen. While the GAW did not fail, they certainly did not pass. Come on leadership, it is time the Warriors bring home the silverware.

Yours sincerely,
Neil Kumar