Chief executive officer of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Pete Russell has described this year’s edition of the regional tournament as a resounding success.
His comments have come following the completion of the men’s competition on Sunday, where the Guyana Amazon Warriors registered a comfortable nine-wicket victory over the Trinbago Knight Riders to lift their first title.
The Women’s Royals were crowned CPL queens on September 11.
In an interview following Sunday’s finale, Russell said he was extremely pleased with the 11th edition of the annual competition.
“Having Guyana and Trinidad play in the finals in Guyana is pretty much the dream final,” Russell said in an interview.
Speaking specifically about the women’s tournament, the CEO said the participation of international players had significantly boosted its quality.
He said he remained committed to further developing the women’s tournament while maintaining resource efficiency.
“But we have to do it in a way which makes sense, so you don’t want to overstretch the resources in terms of the number of players that are down here, but we’re very happy with it,” Russell said.
However, he said the CPL was not resting on its laurels and they were already preparing for next year’s tournament.
“We’re quite a long way down the road already in terms of our schedule for 2024 and 2025. So we’re way ahead of ourselves in terms of where and how the games will be played, which is exciting,” Russell disclosed.
Regarding the hosting of the CPL finals in 2025, Russell remained discreet, but admitted they were engaged in ongoing talks with various Caribbean countries to potentially host the prestigious event.
Additionally, he said discussions between cricket and government officials in Jamaica to bring matches back to Sabina Park, Jamaica were also ongoing.
Guyana’s three-year contractual agreement with the CPL, which facilitated the hosting of the tournament’s playoffs and finals for three consecutive years, is set to conclude in 2024, opening the door for potential hosts in the Caribbean.
This year also marked the CPL’s return to the Kensington Oval for the first time since 2019, with Barbados joining St Lucia, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago as host territories for matches in the regional cricket showcase.
Russell explained that this time around, CPL organisers drew valuable lessons from their experience during the global pandemic, enabling them to efficiently stage matches at each host venue.
One notable change in this year’s tournament was the introduction of a ‘red card’ for teams that had slow over rates.
And while there was some player backlash against the rule, particularly from Knight Riders captain Keiron Pollard, Russell said the rule would remain in place for future tournaments, citing its effectiveness in reducing game durations.
“We’re going to continue with it because it reduced the time of the games to what they should be played in…we reduced the average amount of playing time by 20 minutes. So if you can do that and still there’s only, I think, three red cards in total by the end, it’s done its job,” Russell said.
“Players are always going to be anti-something which potentially has an impact on them. But we thought it was the fair way to do it, and I think most of the other captains have agreed with it.” (RT)
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