Federation Cricketers in CPL Mix

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Four of the Federation’s cricketers are among 100-plus selectees from the Caribbean who will be a part of the draft for the 2014 Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Draft slated for tomorrow (Apr. 3) in Jamaica.

The four cricketers are Keiran Powell and Tonito Willet from Nevis and Jacques Taylor and Steve Liburd from St. Kitts.

Last year, three Kittitians, Shane Jeffers, Jacques Taylor and Steve Liburd, were among a list of over 200 cricketers from across the globe selected for the CPL Draft.

However, the Kittitians were not selected by any team, and while five of their counterparts from sister isle Nevis were also on the list, only Kieran Powell was drafted.

He was drafted by the Antiguan franchise and played for the Antigua Hawkbills, but had little success with the bat.

This year however, hope surrounding more Kittitians and Nevisians participating in the tournament is renewed following the announcement that Warner Park would be hosting nine CPL games, including the Semi-Finals and Final.

CPL, this week, confirmed a star-studded lineup of cricketers registered to take part in this year’s competition.

The players include the six International Franchise Players (IFPs) chosen by the teams, and all others entering the 2014 Draft, which takes place tomorrow in Kingston, Jamaica.

The six IFPs will include three cricketers who will return to their respective 2013 teams. They are international cricket’s most successful bowler Muttiah Muralitharan (Jamaica Tallawahs), CPL 2013’s leading run-scorer Shoaib Malik (Barbados Tridents), and New Zealand’s Ross Taylor (Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel).

The others who will make up the six IFPs are the top wicket-taker in T20 Internationals, Saeed Ajmal, who will be playing for the Antigua Hawksbills; record-breaking New Zealander Corey Anderson for Guyana Amazon Warriors; and Australian T20 specialist Brad Hodge will be playing for the St. Lucia Zouks.

Also joining the six IFPs will be global stars Shahid Afridi, Kevin Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara and Daniel Vettori, as well as more than 100 Caribbean players, who will all enter the 2014 Draft.

Afridi will feature alongside 26 of his Pakistani compatriots, including Umar Gul, Ahmed Shehzad and Misbah-ul-Haq; while 13 New Zealanders, including James Franklin, Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder will feature alongside their former captain Daniel Vettori.

Sri Lanka will have 11 representatives in the Draft, and they will include former captains Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan, as well as hard-hitting all-rounder Thisara Perera and mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis.

Australia, with 32 players, have the largest overseas contingent in the Draft, which include prolific batsmen David Hussey and Adam Voges, pace bowlers Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes, and spinners Brad Hogg and Xavier Doherty.

South Africa’s seam bowler Vernon Philander, who tasted CPL success last year with the Jamaica Tallawahs, is hoping to return to the competition for a second year alongside countryman Herschelle Gibbs, who played for St. Lucia Zouks in 2013.

South African will be fielding 23 players, including current Proteas stars Robin Peterson and Lonwabo Tsotsobe. And Englishmen Simon Jones, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Owais Shah will line-up alongside former teammate Kevin Pietersen.

Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, Zimbabwe’s spinner Ray Price, Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien, Netherlands’ Tom Cooper and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi are among others to feature in the Draft.

Each Franchise team will have a squad of 19 players that will include two pre-selected players – one West Indies Franchise Player and one International Franchise Player. Each team will also have four local Under-19 players as part of the squad, which will be pre-selected by the Local Territorial Boards.

Up for grabs at the Draft will be salaries ranging from US$5 000 to US80 000.