On Friday June 30, the teams were officially announced for this year’s Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL).
The Massy WCPL will feature the best players from around the Caribbean along with a few overseas players from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India and Ireland. The WCPL is set to begin on August 31 in Barbados with the final slated for September 10 in Trinidad. This year’s WCPL promises to be one of the most exciting tournaments given the rapid growth and development of women’s cricket.
Some of the West Indian stars to headline WCPL include: Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor. Overseas players include: Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Fran Jonas from New Zealand, Laura Harris and Amanda-Jade Wellington from Australia, Dane van Niekerk, Mignon de Preez and Shabnim Ismail from South Africa, Shreyanka Patil from India and Orla Prendergast and Gaby Lewis from Ireland. Shreyanka Patil will be the first Indian player to play in the WCPL.
The Republic Bank CPL will be the highlight of the West Indian Summer with the tournament set to bowl off on August 16 and concluding on September 24. This year’s tournament features matches in five territories namely: St Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana. The playoffs and final will be held at the National Stadium, Providence in Guyana.
The tournament features West Indian T20 stars including Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo, Keiron Pollard and Andre Russell along with the likes of international stars such as Rilee Rossouw, Imran Tahir, Faf Du Plessis, Martin Guptill, Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir. The star-studded teams will clash in front of packed stadiums for the coveted CPL trophy. This coupled with vocal fans and lively music is truly what makes the CPL the “Biggest party in Sport”.