(CMC) – Australia’s double ICC World Cup winner Tom Moody says the inclusion of several world-class players in all six franchises will guarantee this year’s Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will emerge the most competitive, biggest and best yet.
Moody, who recently steered Sunrisers Hyderabad to their maiden Indian Premier League title as head coach, is the CPL’s international director of cricket.
He played a key role in securing the signing of overseas players of the calibre of AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Brendon McCullum and Shane Watson for the first time.
“The best players in the world want to play in this tournament because they have heard a lot of positive things about the tournament, they’ve heard how successful it’s been, they’ve heard how competitive it’s been, and the best players want to play in the best tournaments. It’s as simple as that,” said Moody.
RINGING ENDORSEMENT
“To lure the likes of McCullum, de Villiers, Watson and whoever it might have been to this tournament, and it’s littered with big international names, was a reasonably easy task purely because of what the CPL has managed to build over the last three years.”
The 50-year-old believes the players’ presence alongside a host of outstanding local West Indies and international stars is a ringing endorsement of the growing international stature of the CPL.
He describes the CPL as one pathway to develop the next generation of West Indies cricketers.
“We’ve seen it before in the IPL with young Indians, and in Australia with young Australians (in the Big Bash). And it should really be no different in the Caribbean where the CPL can be a vehicle for young players to be really highlighted on the big stage because they’re playing against some of the best players in the world,” said Moody, the former Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Western Australian all-rounder, who scored 21,001 first-class runs and took 361 first-class wickets in a career spanning 16 years.
“If they can stack up against those players and perform consistently and really shine over the tournament, it’s a real launching pad for them into their career.”
This year’s Hero CPL will be played between June 29 and August 7.
