World stars sign up for 2017 Hero CPL Player Draft

* Tom Moody hails “growing international appeal” of the biggest party in sport

A record number of local and international stars have been officially registered for the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Player Draft which takes place on Friday, 10 March in Barbados.

In all, 258 players from across the Caribbean and most of the leading cricketing nations are in the frame to secure a coveted place in the tournament, which is this year scheduled to take place between 1 August and 9 September, with fixtures and dates to be announced in due course.

Commenting on this year’s list of applicants both in the West Indies and across the world, Director of International Cricket for CPL, Tom Moody said: “T20 is capturing the world of cricket by storm, and with the huge numbers of talented players from across the cricketing world eager to sign up to the biggest party in sport, I’ve no doubt that the 2017 season will be our best yet.

“In attracting the cream of international talent from a healthy blend of established and fast-developing nations, it extends the growing international appeal of the sport and of the Hero CPL itself, and I have no doubt that we are going to see a hugely contested Player Draft in Barbados on March 10^th.”

There’s a strong list of West Indies talent who were both drafted and undrafted in 2016, including former Antigua Hawksbills and St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots star all-rounder Marlon Samuels who was the man of the match for the West Indies in their ICC World T20 final victory over England last year.

There will be 28 players from Australia in the Draft, an increase of six from the 2016 campaign, including a blend of experience in Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus and Brad Hogg allied to a crop of up-and-coming talent which includes leg-spinner Adam Zampa who was a star for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2016 season. A further 17 New Zealanders, including the likes of Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott and Jimmy Neesham, are also in the mix.

England have four players and included is T20 specialist fast bowler Tymal Mills, who made his T20 international debut for England against Sri Lanka last summer, and is an eye-catching addition amongst the contenders who will be aiming to secure a place in the Hero CPL for the first time. Ireland will have three representatives in the Draft.

Pakistan will have the highest representation in the Draft after increasing last year’s tally from 38 players to 46. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s rise in the shortest format of the game sees Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi named in a five-strong contingent who will also be hoping to make their tournament bows.

With the high-profile transfers of Chris Gayle (Jamaica Tallawahs to St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots) and Dwayne Smith (Guyana Amazon Warriors to Barbados Tridents) already confirmed, the list does not include those players who have been retained by their franchises. They, like the marquee players, will be announced at the Player Draft on March 10^th.
Players Registered for 2017 Hero CPL Draft (253):

AFGHANISTAN (5): Rashid Khan, Nawroz Mangal, Mohammad Nabi, Asghar Stanikzai, Najibullah Zadran

AUSTRALIA (28): Sean Abbott, Fawad Ahmed, Tom Beaton, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Doug Bollinger, Cameron Boyce, Joe Burns, Ureshen Chinia, Tom Cooper, Ben Cutting, Ben Dunk, Cameron Gannon, Chris Green, Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hogg, Ben Laughlin, Jake Lehmann, Nic Maddinson, Ben McDermott, Shaun Marsh, Ben Rohrer, Alex Ross, D’Arcy Short, Mark Steketee, Jake Weatherald, Adam Zampa

BANGLADESH (4): Tuskin Ahmed, Anamul Haque, Tamim Iqbal (St. Lucia Zouks), Mahmudullah Riad

CANADA (2): Rizwan Cheema, Ruvindu Gunasekera

ENGLAND (4): Recordo Gordon, Tymal Mills, Monty Panesar, Ashar Zaidi

IRELAND (3): George Dockrell (T&T Red Steel), Kevin O’Brien (T&T Red Steel), Niall O’Brien

NEW ZEALAND (17): Corey Anderson, Hamish Bennett, Tom Bruce, Mark Chapman, Colin de Grandhomme, Anton Devcich (Trinbago Knight Riders), Grant Elliott (St. Lucia Zouks), Lachlan Ferguson, Jimmy Neesham, Narun Nethula, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Hamish Rutherford, Jesse Ryder, Ish Sodhi, Anurag Verma, Ben Wheeler

OMAN (1): Sufyan Mehmood

PAKISTAN (46): Ehsan Adil, Tanwir Afzal, Iftikhar Ahmad, Sarfraz Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Adnan Akmal, Kamran Akmal (T&T Red Steel), Umar Akmal (Trinbago Knight Riders), Fawad Alam, Anwar Ali, Hassan Ali, Rahat Ali, Umar Amin, Yasir Arafat, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Zulfiqar Babar, Bilawal Bhatti, Salman Butt, Asghar Durrani, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Mir Hamza, Faisal Iqbal, Muhammad Irfan, Imran Khalid, Imran Khan, Jr., Junaid Khan, Shadab Khan, Shahzaib Khan, Sohail Khan, Ahsan Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Ghulam Mudassar, Mohammed Nawaz, Sikandar Raza, Wahab Riaz, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Sami, Asad Shafiq, Yasir Shah, Ahmad Shahzad (Jamaica Tallawahs & Barbados Tridents), Mohammad Shahzad, Hussain Talat, Misbah-ul-Haq, Amir Yamin

SOUTH AFRICA (16): Farhaan Behardien, Johan Botha, Dillon du Preez, Rob Frylinck, Beuran Hendricks, Eddie Leie, George Linde, Aiden Markram, Justin Ontong, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander (Jamaica Tallawahs), Dwaine Pretorius, Jon Jon Smuts (St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Grant Thomson, Shadley van Schalkwyk

SRI LANKA (19): Dushmantha Chameera, Niroshan Dickwella, Anuk Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Kamara, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Farveez Maharoof, Jeevan Mendis (Barbados Tridents), Kausal Mendis, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ramith Rambukwelle, Gihan Rupasinghe, Sachithra Senanayake, Dusan Shanaka, Kaushal Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Jeffrey Vandersay

USA (1): Zishawn Querishi

WEST INDIES – drafted in 2016 (26): Christopher Barnwell (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Sulieman Benn (Trinbago Knight Riders), Devendra Bishoo (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Nkrumah Bonner (Jamaica Tallawahs), Anthony Bramble (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Yannic Cariah (Trinbago Knight Riders), Derone Davis (T&T Red Steel & St. Lucia Zouks), Shannon Gabriel (St. Lucia Zouks), Kyle Hope (Barbados Tridents), Delorn Johnson (St. Lucia Zouks), Alzarri Joseph (St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Jeremiah Louis, Kyle Mayers (St. Lucia Zouks), Andre McCarthy (Jamaica Tallawahs), Ashley Nurse (Barbados Tridents), Orlando Peters (Antigua Hawksbills, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots & Guyana Amazon Warriors), Anderson Phillip (Trinbago Knight Riders), Gidron Pope (St. Lucia Zouks), Christopher Powell (Jamaica Tallawahs), Kristopher Ramsarran (St. Lucia Zouks), Krishmar Santokie (Guyana Amazon Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs & St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Lendl Simmons (Guyana Amazon Warriors & St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Navin Stewart (Guyana Amazon Warriors & Barbados Tridents), Steven Taylor (Barbados Tridents), Chadwick Walton (Jamaica Tallawahs), Paul Wintz (Guyana Amazon Warriors)

WEST INDIES – undrafted in 2016 (81): Nicholas Alexis, Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris (St. Lucia Zouks), Justin Athanaze (Antigua Hawksbills), Jonathan Augustus, Robin Bacchus, Tino Best (St. Lucia Zouks), Ansil Bhagan, Jermaine Blackwood (Jamaica Tallawahs), Travis Blyden, Justin Brathwaite, Gavan Brown, Odean Brown (Jamaica Tallawahs), John Campbell, Jon-Ross Campbell, Kellon Carmichael, Keacy Carty, Stephan Casey, Rajendra Chandrika, Derwin Christian, Rahkeem Cornwall (Antigua Hawksbills), Keron Cottoy (St. Lucia Zouks), Dane Currency, Marvin Darlington, Narsingh Deonarine (Jamaica Tallawahs), Akeem Dewar, Mark Deyal, Javelle Glen, Jyd Goolie, Nicholson Gordon, Derval Green, Trevon Griffith (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Jahmar Hamilton, Keon Harding, Jermain Harrison, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Alcindo Holder, Danza Hyatt, Damian Jacobs, Ricky Jaipaul, Amir Jangoo, Ray Jordan (St. Lucia Zouks), Keon Joseph, Kavesh Kantasingh, Richard Kelly, Brandon King, Christopher Lamont, Yannick Leonard, Reynard Leveridge, Kennar Lewis, Xavier Marshall, Marquino Mindley, Vikash Mohan, Gudakesh Motie, Raj Nannan, Ewart Nicholson, Ryan Nurse, Kjorn Ottley, Keemo Paul, Amit Persaud, Adelvin Phillip, Omar Phillips, Khary Pierre, Roshan Primus, Isaiah Rajah, Marlon Richards, Kemar Roach, Peat Salmon, Marlon Samuels (Antigua Hawksbills & St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Liam Sebastian (St. Lucia Zouks), Damani Sewell, Romario Shepherd, Gajanand Singh, Odean Smith, Kevin Stoute, Jacques Taylor, Gavin Tonge (Antigua Hawksbills), Ryan Wiggins, Tonito Willett, Gavin Williams, Oraine Williams

ZIMBABWE (4): Elton Chigumbura, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Malcolm Waller

ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE:

The HERO Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Over 149 million fans watched the 2016 season, combining broadcast and digital viewership, to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Jamaica Tallawahs are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Lucia Zouks, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Trinbago Knight Riders.