The 2016 HERO Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign will break new ground on Thursday, 28 July when Guyana Amazon Warriors faces the Barbados Tridents in a night game (starting at 7pm) in Lauderhill Stadium, Fort Lauderdale.
The ground-breaking Florida swing of the fourth edition of CPL, which last year welcomed more than 302,000 supporters through the turnstiles (representing a 44 percent increase from 2014), will also present the final opportunity for all six franchises to chase coveted league points ahead of the play-offs and finals.
All six teams will feature in the 10,000 capacity stadium across four days, with Faf du Plessis, Samuel Badree and Lendl Simmons’ St Kitts & Nevis Patriots facing newly re-named defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), who will this year have New Zealander Brendon McCullum in tow as their marquee player alongside spin twins Sulieman Benn and Sunil Narine, on the Friday night.
There will then be exciting weekend double-headers between the Zouks, who have in their ranks local favourite and West Indies’ T20 captain Darren Sammy and the world’s leading all-rounder Shane Watson, against Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Kumar Sangakkara’s Jamaica Tallawahs (midday), with Kieron Pollard and Proteas star AB de Villiers’ Barbados Tridents taking on Martin Guptill’s Guyana Amazon Warriors (4pm) in a reverse fixture on the Saturday. Then on Sunday, TKR will take on the Patriots in the midday clash followed by 2013 champions Jamaica Tallawahs facing the Zouks later that afternoon.
Damien O’Donohoe, Chief Executive Officer of the HERO Caribbean Premier League, commented: “We are delighted to announce fixture information of the ground-breaking Florida leg of CPL which represents an exciting new chapter for the tournament. Supporters will have the opportunity to see all six teams in action twice over four action-packed days which will showcase some of the best West Indies and international talent on display.
“West Indies cricket is on a real high at the moment, with the success of the men’s, women’s and Under-19 World Cup winning squads generating a feel-good factor locally and internationally, and plans are well underway to deliver a top-class leg in the USA.”
Meanwhile, tickets for all of the confirmed CPL fixtures to date, including the previously announced fixtures in St Kitts & Nevis (30 June-5 July) will go on sale this Friday (8 April) from www.cplt20.com. Ticket prices will start at (US Dollar) $23 - $92.50 for a single match, while tickets for one of the weekend double-headers are priced from $43 to $132.50. Further ticket announcements for the other franchises are expected over the coming fortnight.
FORT LAUDERDALE FIXTURES (all times local): 28 July – Guyana Amazon Warriors v Barbados Tridents (7pm), 29 July St Kitts & Nevis Patriots v Trinbago Knight Riders (7pm), 30 July – Zouks v Jamaica Tallawahs (midday), Barbados Tridents v Guyana Amazon Warriors (4pm), 31 July - Trinbago Knight Riders v St Kitts & Nevis Patriots (midday), Jamaica Tallawahs v Zouks (4pm).
CPL ROLL OF HONOUR: Jamaica Tallawahs (2013), Barbados Tridents (2014), Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel (2015)
CPL PLAYER DRAFT 2016:
BARBADOS TRIDENTS: Kieron Pollard, AB de Villiers*, Shoaib Malik, Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Rampaul, David Wiese, Robin Peterson, Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse, Wayne Parnell, Akeal Hosein, Imran Khan, Kyle Hope, Navin Stewart, Kyle Corbin, Steven Taylor
GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS: Sohail Tanvir, Martin Guptill*, Dwayne Smith, Chris Lynn, Rayad Emrit, Adam Zampa, Jason Mohammed, Christopher Barnwell, Veerasammy Permaul, Orlando Peters, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Steven Katwaroo, Ali Khan
JAMAICA TALLAWAHS: Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara*, Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, Imad Wasim, Lasith Malinga, Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Andre McCarthy, Jonathan Foo, Alex Ross, Kesrick Williams, Nkrumah Bonner, Garey Mathurin, Timroy Allen
ST KITTS & NEVIS PATRIOTS: Lendl Simmons, Faf du Plessis*, Samuel Badree, Brad Hodge, Thisara Perera, Jonathan Carter, Krishmar Santokie, Evin Lewis, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kieran Powell, JJ Smuts, Devon Thomas, Shamarh Brooks, Tino Best, Jeremiah Louis, Nikhil Dutta
TRINBAGO KNIGHT RIDERS: Dwayne Bravo, Brendon McCullum*, Sunil Narine, Hashim Amla, Umar Akmal, Kevon Cooper, Sulieman Benn, Colin Munro, Anton Devcich, Ronsford Beaton, Nikita Miller, Javon Searles, William Perkins, Yannick Cariah, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Hamza Tariq
ZOUKS: David Miller, Shane Watson*, Darren Sammy, Michael Hussey, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Morne Morkel, Fidel Edwards, Derone Davis, Eddie Leie, Keron Cottoy, Shane Shillingford, Delorn Johnson, Kyle Mayers, Keddy Lesporis, Nitish Kumar
