An innovative ball, new-look Patriots and the champions... CPL THINGS TO WATCH

The Cricketer looks ahead to some of the themes to look out for ahead of the Caribbean Premier League in St Kitts and Nevis

The ball

This year’s Caribbean Premier League will see the introduction of a brand-new ball – the first time in a professional league that the Kookaburra Smart Ball has been used.

Co-founded by former Australia bowler Michael Kasprowicz, it feels and plays the same as a regular ball but sends back significant information on each delivery, including the speed and spin at release, when it bounces and when it reaches the batsman, with all that information then delivered back to the commentators in real time.

“By delivering real time data, we look forwarding to getting fans closer to the action than ever and giving players and coaches access to new insight to their performance, enhancing the way we all experience cricket,” explained Kasprowicz.

The reunion

Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo are back on the same team, having played their final T20I match on home soil together earlier this month.

The washout between West Indies and Pakistan in Guyana marked Bravo’s final international appearance in the Caribbean. The match only lasted three overs, and Gayle returned to the top of the order amid his Indian-summer reinvention as a T20 No.3. He was unbeaten on 12 when the rain came; Bravo’s involvement extended only to being named on the teamsheet.

CPL team-by-team previews

This time last year, what is now about to happen would have sounded farfetched: Gayle had opted out of the Caribbean Premier League for personal reasons – he had been due to turn out for St Lucia Zouks, who would have been his third team in the tournament following prior stints with Jamaica Tallawahs and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.

But following their dismal campaign in 2020, characterised by poor performances from local stars and haphazard overseas signings, Gayle is a Patriot once more, this time with home advantage.

^{Chris Gayle has joined St Kitts and Nevis Patriots}

And he will be joined by Bravo, who has swapped the invincibility of Trinbago Knight Riders, where he won every game last year, for a rebuilding job in St Kitts and Nevis. They are not alone, though; sweeping changes followed a dismal 2020 campaign that featured one victory and eight defeats. Asif Ali endured a ropey campaign with Jamaica, but he has arrived, as well as Ravi Bopara, Fawad Ahmed and Paul van Meekeren as overseas players.

They would have been stronger but for the international call-ups of Anrich Nortje and Rassie van der Dussen. Sherfane Rutherford had a woeful tournament last year but is a far better player than those numbers; he was at Guyana last year, so will hope for a change in luck. Patriots’ fortunes were typified last year by Fabian Allen missing his charter flight into Trinidad and Tobago. His presence will make them a far better, more balanced team.

Having finished sixth last year, could they find themselves in a title race this time?

The pitches

One of the hallmarks of last year’s edition was the burden placed on the pitches at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy and the Queen’s Park Oval. The result was a low-scoring tournament as the surfaces struggled to cope with the sheer amount of cricket; so, how Warner Park fares will be a fascinating subplot.

Only two players – Lendl Simmons and Glenn Phillips – passed 300 runs in 2020, while less surprisingly there were six spinners among the ten leading wicket-takers.

St Lucia Zouks defended 92 against Barbados Tridents, who were subsequently rolled for 92 by Guyana Amazon Warriors in their next game and then restricted to 89 for 9 against the same opposition two days later. Three days afterwards, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots collapsed to 77 all out against Trinbago Knight Riders, before Guyana were rolled for 55 in their semi-final by St Lucia.

For the tournament’s sake, the CPL could do with something more watchable this time. But with the impact of the pandemic forcing organisers to restrict travel between islands, a similarly bowler-dominant month could be in store.

^{Kieron Pollard captained Trinbago Knight Riders to the title last year}

The reigning champions… and the old timers

How to stop Trinbago Knight Riders? Kieron Pollard’s side won every game they played last year, with as strong a spine as a franchise team might reasonably find among its local players.

From that squad, Dwayne Bravo and Fawad Ahmed have moved on to St Kitts and Nevis, but both have been replaced by Yasir Shah and Sri Lankan left-armer Isuru Udana. How Yasir fares will be particularly interesting: the Pakistan leggie is a fine red-ball bowler but less renowned for his work in the limited-over game. He was signed up to fill in for Sandeep Lamichhane, a notorious T20 gun.

Denesh Ramdin is also back with Knight Riders, in tandem with Ravi Rampaul as one of the more experienced pairings in the competition. Neither are as old, though, as Fidel Edwards, who is still running in for Jamaica Tallawahs and will be one of the quicker seamers on show.

Oshane Thomas, on the other hand, is 15 years younger than Edwards but needs a better campaign than his last, when he took just a single wicket in seven expensive overs.

He is one of several West Indies seamers at a new franchise, having joined Barbados Royals. Keemo Paul and Alzarri Joseph, meanwhile, have both switched sides to St Lucia Kings. Those two teams, by the way, have come under ownership from organisations involved in the Indian Premier League, with Rajasthan and Punjab. Trinbago, of course, are already linked to Kolkata Knight Riders.