?The 2015 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) was a success overall but I think that there are many areas that the organisers need to look at in order to improve moving forward.
Firstly, I must say congratulations to the T&T Red Steel who won their first title on their third attempt. Dwayne Bravo's men got past the Barbados Tridents in front of a packed Queen's Park Oval.
The team battled against all odds and came back from last position to the very top at the end of a month of fierce battle. I thought that the Red Steel, in particular, had to fight against tremendous odds given their scheduling. After playing their first two games of the ten-game preliminaries, the Red Steel had an eight-day wait before their next game. They went to St Kitts where they were idle for the most part and even had time to stage a mini-camp while other teams were playing. This could not have been an ideal situation for the team in the midst of a tournament.
Then the T&T Red Steel played one game in St Kitts and then flew out to Jamaica for a game two days after. One of the players on the team had to fly to Antigua, then to St Maarten, over to Curacao then to Barbados, across the Grenada and then to Trinidad. He then had to leave Trinidad and make a few more stops and then get into Jamaica.
After the game in Jamaica Red Steel had to go back to St Kitts to play another game. They arrived around 8 pm on the Friday and then had to play at noon the next day. One of their players could not find a place on the flight to St Kitts and had to come home. This cannot be right. Something has to be done concerning the scheduling. During the tournament there were many days when players were inactive. I think that the organisers should look critically at the fixtures and tighten up, so that the players are put under less pressure and they themselves will save money.
Another area of concern in my opinion was the fact that far more Caribbean officials could have been used, as CPL, although owned by the Irish telecommunications firm Digicel is a Caribbean tournament. Governments of the region are spending taxpayers' dollars to help fund this tournament and the Caribbean people must benefit.
Can the CPL explain why they flew Scott Styris and Murali Karthick halfway around the world to commentate on these matches? I could understand Danny Morrison and the entertainment value, but what did the other two bring to the CPL? Couldn't Jeff Dujon, Philo Wallace or Fazeer Mohammed do a much better job?
Why was Isa Guha, the former female English cricketer, flown in? The road to Moruga was blocked off, probably, and West Indies women captain Merissa Aguilliera couldn't come out her home.
I want to thank Andrew Mason for using Caribbean talent on the radio, and yes, he did have Aguilliera at times and she did a good job. CNC3 used West Indies spinner Anisa Mohammed and her sister Alisa. Even to run the tournament they brought in foreign hands.
One of the legacies of the 2007 ICC World Cup in the Caribbean was that the people rose to the occasion and a number of good administrators came through.
Just as players would benefit from the CPL, so to should administrators and people working around the cricket. Imagine they brought in a guy all the way from India to do the stats. Let me state again that I have no problems with foreigners but when they have tournaments our people cannot really get in.
The last thing I would like to touch on is the conduct of the cheerleaders at the finals of the tournament held at the Queen's Park Oval. What they were doing jumping among the players when they were collecting their trophy and awards?
Journalists in the press box were furious because it would have been a nightmare to caption the photos with the players celebrating. Someone needed to tell them find their place and move over. They were totally out of place and whoever allowed this embarrassing position should be spoken to.
Or should they not be spoken to because this is Trinidad and anything goes? We need to be professional in our dealing because when events like these come around the world focusses on us. This is the time to make or break and we have to try for the former.
Apart from the shortfalls I have pointed out, I would like to commend the CPL for hosting yet another successful tournament but, as I said before, there is always room for improvement and I hope my comments fall on intelligent, mature ears.?The 2015 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) was a success overall but I think that there are many areas that the organisers need to look at in order to improve moving forward.
Firstly, I must say congratulations to the T&T Red Steel who won their first title on their third attempt. Dwayne Bravo's men got past the Barbados Tridents in front of a packed Queen's Park Oval.
The team battled against all odds and came back from last position to the very top at the end of a month of fierce battle. I thought that the Red Steel, in particular, had to fight against tremendous odds given their scheduling. After playing their first two games of the ten-game preliminaries, the Red Steel had an eight-day wait before their next game. They went to St Kitts where they were idle for the most part and even had time to stage a mini-camp while other teams were playing. This could not have been an ideal situation for the team in the midst of a tournament.
Then the T&T Red Steel played one game in St Kitts and then flew out to Jamaica for a game two days after. One of the players on the team had to fly to Antigua, then to St Maarten, over to Curacao then to Barbados, across the Grenada and then to Trinidad. He then had to leave Trinidad and make a few more stops and then get into Jamaica.
After the game in Jamaica Red Steel had to go back to St Kitts to play another game. They arrived around 8 pm on the Friday and then had to play at noon the next day. One of their players could not find a place on the flight to St Kitts and had to come home. This cannot be right. Something has to be done concerning the scheduling. During the tournament there were many days when players were inactive. I think that the organisers should look critically at the fixtures and tighten up, so that the players are put under less pressure and they themselves will save money.
Another area of concern in my opinion was the fact that far more Caribbean officials could have been used, as CPL, although owned by the Irish telecommunications firm Digicel is a Caribbean tournament. Governments of the region are spending taxpayers' dollars to help fund this tournament and the Caribbean people must benefit.
Can the CPL explain why they flew Scott Styris and Murali Karthick halfway around the world to commentate on these matches? I could understand Danny Morrison and the entertainment value, but what did the other two bring to the CPL? Couldn't Jeff Dujon, Philo Wallace or Fazeer Mohammed do a much better job?
Why was Isa Guha, the former female English cricketer, flown in? The road to Moruga was blocked off, probably, and West Indies women captain Merissa Aguilliera couldn't come out her home.
I want to thank Andrew Mason for using Caribbean talent on the radio, and yes, he did have Aguilliera at times and she did a good job. CNC3 used West Indies spinner Anisa Mohammed and her sister Alisa. Even to run the tournament they brought in foreign hands.
One of the legacies of the 2007 ICC World Cup in the Caribbean was that the people rose to the occasion and a number of good administrators came through.
Just as players would benefit from the CPL, so to should administrators and people working around the cricket. Imagine they brought in a guy all the way from India to do the stats. Let me state again that I have no problems with foreigners but when they have tournaments our people cannot really get in.
The last thing I would like to touch on is the conduct of the cheerleaders at the finals of the tournament held at the Queen's Park Oval. What they were doing jumping among the players when they were collecting their trophy and awards?
Journalists in the press box were furious because it would have been a nightmare to caption the photos with the players celebrating. Someone needed to tell them find their place and move over. They were totally out of place and whoever allowed this embarrassing position should be spoken to.
Or should they not be spoken to because this is Trinidad and anything goes? We need to be professional in our dealing because when events like these come around the world focusses on us. This is the time to make or break and we have to try for the former.
Apart from the shortfalls I have pointed out, I would like to commend the CPL for hosting yet another successful tournament but, as I said before, there is always room for improvement and I hope my comments fall on intelligent, mature ears. Firstly, I must say congratulations to the T&T Red Steel who won their first title on their third attempt. Dwayne Bravo's men got past the Barbados Tridents in front of a packed Queen's Park Oval. The team battled against all odds and came back from last position to the very top at the end of a month of fierce battle. I thought that the Red Steel, in particular, had to fight against tremendous odds given their scheduling. After playing their first two games of the ten-game preliminaries, the Red Steel had an eight-day wait before their next game. They went to St Kitts where they were idle for the most part and even had time to stage a mini-camp while other teams were playing. This could not have been an ideal situation for the team in the midst of a tournament. Then the T&T Red Steel played one game in St Kitts and then flew out to Jamaica for a game two days after. One of the players on the team had to fly to Antigua, then to St Maarten, over to Curacao then to Barbados, across the Grenada and then to Trinidad. He then had to leave Trinidad and make a few more stops and then get into Jamaica. After the game in Jamaica Red Steel had to go back to St Kitts to play another game. They arrived around 8 pm on the Friday and then had to play at noon the next day. One of their players could not find a place on the flight to St Kitts and had to come home. This cannot be right. Something has to be done concerning the scheduling. During the tournament there were many days when players were inactive. I think that the organisers should look critically at the fixtures and tighten up, so that the players are put under less pressure and they themselves will save money. Another area of concern in my opinion was the fact that far more Caribbean officials could have been used, as CPL, although owned by the Irish telecommunications firm Digicel is a Caribbean tournament. Governments of the region are spending taxpayers' dollars to help fund this tournament and the Caribbean people must benefit. Can the CPL explain why they flew Scott Styris and Murali Karthick halfway around the world to commentate on these matches? I could understand Danny Morrison and the entertainment value, but what did the other two bring to the CPL? Couldn't Jeff Dujon, Philo Wallace or Fazeer Mohammed do a much better job? Why was Isa Guha, the former female English cricketer, flown in? The road to Moruga was blocked off, probably, and West Indies women captain Merissa Aguilliera couldn't come out her home. I want to thank Andrew Mason for using Caribbean talent on the radio, and yes, he did have Aguilliera at times and she did a good job. CNC3 used West Indies spinner Anisa Mohammed and her sister Alisa. Even to run the tournament they brought in foreign hands. One of the legacies of the 2007 ICC World Cup in the Caribbean was that the people rose to the occasion and a number of good administrators came through. Just as players would benefit from the CPL, so to should administrators and people working around the cricket. Imagine they brought in a guy all the way from India to do the stats. Let me state again that I have no problems with foreigners but when they have tournaments our people cannot really get in. The last thing I would like to touch on is the conduct of the cheerleaders at the finals of the tournament held at the Queen's Park Oval. What they were doing jumping among the players when they were collecting their trophy and awards? Journalists in the press box were furious because it would have been a nightmare to caption the photos with the players celebrating. Someone needed to tell them find their place and move over. They were totally out of place and whoever allowed this embarrassing position should be spoken to. Or should they not be spoken to because this is Trinidad and anything goes? We need to be professional in our dealing because when events like these come around the world focusses on us. This is the time to make or break and we have to try for the former. Apart from the shortfalls I have pointed out, I would like to commend the CPL for hosting yet another successful tournament but, as I said before, there is always room for improvement and I hope my comments fall on intelligent, mature ears.