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The next leg of the tournament will take place in Barbados with the CPL returning to the country for the first time since 2019. With six matches scheduled for the iconic Kensington Oval and four home games for the Barbados Royals, there will be lots of excitement about the tournament’s return. The matches will take place in Barbados from 30 August to 3 September.
From 5 September to 10 September, the tournament will be in Trinidad & Tobago. There will be four home games for the Trinbago Knight Riders and six matches in total.
The final leg of the tournament will take place in Guyana with the matches running from 13 September to 24 September. The knockout stages will be in Guyana again in 2023, with excitement already building after the successful running of the final last season.
Pete Russell, Republic Bank CPL’s CEO, said, “We are very pleased that the tournament will be staged in five countries in 2023. As ever, the CPL is a chance for fans across the region and around the world to enjoy world-class cricket. And for the players from the Caribbean, it is an opportunity to showcase their skills and further their careers.”
Guyana Warriors turned their run of poor form around in style, beating the Jamaica Tallawahs by 12 runs to record only their second win of the season despite Brandon King’s outstanding century.
The Tallawahs’ decision to bowl first originally appeared to have paid off, with the Warriors under par at 104 for 7 after 17 overs.
Chris Green removed openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Chandrapaul Hemraj inside the first four overs before fellow spinners Imad Wasim and Mohammad Nabi set about dismantling the middle order. Shai Hope was the only sticking point, reaching 60 off 45 balls before being bowled by Nabi.
However, a late onslaught from Odean Smith (42 off 16) and Keemo Paul (24 not out from 12) put the hosts in the driving seat at the halfway stage: Guyana Amazon Warriors 178 for 8.
In reply, Tallawahs opener King crunched 104 runs off 66 balls, including eight fours and seven sixes, but received little support from his teammates – Kennar Lewis (13) and Kirk McKenzie (15) were the only other players to reach double figures.
Actor Preity Zinta, who turns 48 on January 31, had shared her reasons for moving on from films and taking ownership of a cricket club in the Indian Premier League in a 2012 interview.
Along with her leading role in Soldier (1998) opposite Bobby Deol, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for both films. Soon, she made her mark as one of the top female actors in the 2000s.
The actor, who turns 48 on January 31, had a number of hits with strong roles in films like Kya Kehna (2000), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002) and Armaan (2003). Starring once again with Shah Rukh in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), she picked up Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance as Naina in the Karan Johar film. Other hits that decade included Koi… Mil Gaya (2003), Veer-Zaara (2004), Salaam Namaste (2005) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006).
But in the years after that Preity took on less work and appeared in fewer films. She then moved on to focus on her new role, as co-owner of the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Preity also owns the Stellenbosch Kings which is part of the Mzansi Super League in South Africa as well as the Saint Lucia Kings team in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
In a 2012 interview with India Today, the actor spoke about her decision to turn team owner in the IPL. She shared, “When you reach a place of stagnation, you move to another zone. I had worked with the best of filmmakers, producers weren’t giving me earthy or rural roles. And I did not want to be limited to NRI, bubble-gum-babe roles. So I thought, now what?”
She added, “That’s when the idea of a cricket club came to me. At the time, it meant an investment of five million dollars which I thought I could do. Once I bought the team, I went to Harvard Business School. I did everything I could to learn this business and then I got obsessed with IPL!”
She was last seen in the long-delayed action comedy Bhaiaji Superhit (2018) along with Sunny Deol, Arshad Warsi and Ameesha Patel. The actor married businessman Gene Goodenough on February 29, 2016 and now resides primarily in Los Angeles. They welcomed twins, son Jai and daughter Gia, through surrogacy in 2021.
Ryan Rickelton, the leading runscorer in this season’s CSA One-Day Cup, is eligible for selection for South Africa’s squad for their crucial World Cup Super League series against England in Bloemfontein this month. But he hasn’t been picked.
Neither has Dewald Brevis, who isn’t short of ways to earn handsomely without having to bother with playing for South Africa. Tristan Stubbs and Tony de Zorzi – the second and third-highest runscorers in the ODC – also didn’t crack the nod.
Rickelton wasn’t considered for South Africa’s Test series in Australia because he hadn’t had the ankle surgery he required to repair torn ligaments and deal with unnatural bone growth.
Understandably the selectors weren’t keen on sending him halfway across the world if there was a chance he could break down during a match. At the time CSA noted their policy of not selecting injured players.
Rickelton still hasn’t gone under the knife, but he is able to keep playing domestically with the help of injections. In 14 provincial innings across the formats this summer he has scored four centuries along with efforts of 99 and 75.
Did the same reasons that precluded Rickelton from going to Australia keep him out of the England ODIs? “Not at all,” Victor Mpitsang, South Africa’s selection convenor, told a press conference on Wednesday. “Ryan has been performing very well. It’s about where he fits in. He’s an opening batsman, and unfortunately in a squad of 16 we just couldn’t get him in. But I’m sure his opportunity will come.” Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Janneman Malan and Temba Bavuma are the other options in the squad to open the batting.
Mpitsang said the selectors had consulted the medics, who had “made it clear to us that, at home, the risk is not as high as when he travels abroad with his injury”. The policy against picking injured players would seem equally optional.
Brevis scored an unbeaten 70 at a strike rate of 170.73 to lead MI Cape Town to victory over Paarl Royals in the SA20 opener at Newlands last Tuesday. At 19 he has already played in the IPL and the CPL, and is the focus of an intensifying conversation in South African cricket about the importance of ensuring the next generation of cricketers knows they are valued by the national structures. Otherwise they might as well become T20 league mercenaries, earning exponentially more money and having to put up with exponentially less stress.
Were the selectors telling Brevis they weren’t interested in him? “We’re not trying to chase him away at all,” Mpitsang said. “We’ll try and introduce him against West Indies with the different formats, especially T20.”
West Indies will play two Tests, three ODIs and as many T20Is in South Africa from February 28 to March 28. With a bit of luck, Brevis won’t have moved on by then.
On Sunday, many casual cricket fans in Bangladesh were startled for a second or two. While surfing their TV, they came across a franchise T20 match, where a team wearing purple and gold jerseys called Knight Riders were batting.
But after a closer inspection, they realised that the team batting is not the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. They were Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. And the name of the tournament is not IPL but ILT20– International League Twenty20.
In fact, three out of the six teams of ILT20 are owned by IPL franchises. Other than Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, there are Dubai Capitals which is owned by Delhi Capitals and there is ‘Mumbai Indians Emirates’ a subsidiary of the Ambani Group owned IPL team Mumbai Indians.
Australian batting stalwart David Warner has indicated he wants the 2024 T20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies to be his international swansong, saying winning the title would be an icing on the cake.
“(This will) most likely be my last year of my international career. I’ve got my sights set on the 2024 (T20) World Cup as well, so finishing in the Americas (North America and Caribbean islands), that’d be nice to top it off with a win over there, pending selection,” Warner was quoted as saying by Sky Sports on Thursday.
Warner was adjudged the ‘Player of the Tournament’ for his tally of 289 runs in Australia’s winning campaign in the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021. He is currently playing BBL for Sydney Thunders.
“I’ve signed (with the Thunder) for this year and next year, and it’s my time to contribute and give back. I’ve got that time to do that now … (this will) most likely be my last year of my international career,” added Warner.
In December last year, Warner had said that he was highly motivated for the four-Test Border-Gavaskar series in India if he is included in the touring party.
“The extra motivation for me is winning in India and completely winning a series in England. I’ve been told by the coach and the selectors they would like me to be there.
“Was there doubt? Of course there was doubt in my mind but for me it was about going out there and knowing that I’ve still got that hunger and determination because every time I rock up to training, I’ve got it,” he had said.
Meanwhile, Steve Smith has said he will keep concentrating on his ODI and Test careers and had not given much thought to his T20 international future. The former Test captain had played just one match during Australia’s home World Cup campaign last year.
“There’s not a great deal of T20 internationals, so for me, Test and one-day cricket are the huge priorities with what’s coming up and then we’ll wait and see,” Smith told reporters on Thursday.
Nepal court releases rape accused cricketer Lamichhane on bail
Nepal’s top court on Thursday released cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane on bail after he was accused of raping a minor in the Himalayan nation, officials said.
On September 8, a court in Nepal issued an arrest warrant for the national cricket team captain Lamichhane after a 17-year-old girl alleged that he raped her in a hotel room in Kathmandu, police had said.
The Patan High Court ordered release of Lamichhane with the bail of Rs 2 million, according to the court sources.
In October, Lamichhane was taken into custody.
A joint bench of judges Dhruvaraj Nanda and Ramesh Dhakal decided to release the former IPL star on bail of Rs 2 million, reversing the decision of the Kathmandu district court.
A minor, had registered a complaint against Lamichhane on September 5 at the police saying that she was raped by the cricket star and Lamichhane was subsequently sent to custody for investigation as per the district court verdict.
In October, Lamichhane wrote on Facebook that he would “fully cooperate in all stages of the investigation and will fight a legal battle to prove my innocence”, before being arrested.
However, Lamichhane has been barred to leave the country until the final verdict of the court in the case.
Lamichhane is Nepal’s most high-profile cricketer, and the first cricketer from Nepal to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL), when he made his debut for the Delhi Capitals franchise in 2018.
A wily leg-spinner, armed with a vicious googly, he was a much sought-after cricketer in other big-ticket T20 leagues around the world, including the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the CPL.
The prodigiously gifted cricketer holds the record for the world’s second-fastest bowler to capture 50 ODI wickets and the third-fastest to race to 50 T20I wickets.
Lamichhane’s last international appearance came in August this year, when he played against Kenya in a T20I encounter.
Former England batsman Ballance makes winning debut for Zimbabwe
Former England batsman Gary Ballance contributed 30 runs on his international debut for Zimbabwe as they beat Ireland by five wickets on Thursday to win the opening Twenty20 international of their three-match series.
Ballance’s runs came off 29 balls as Zimbabwe scored 118-5 as they initially made heavy weather of chasing down Ireland’s modest total of 114 all out but in the end won with two overs to spare at the Harare Sports Club.
The 33-year-old left-handed batter last month signed a two-year contract to play domestic and international cricket in the country of his birth following his release from county cricket side Yorkshire.
Ballance played 23 Tests for England between 2014 and 2017, scoring 1,498 runs, including four centuries, at an average of 37.45. He also appeared in 16 one-day internationals but has been allowed to switch his international allegiance.
The Harare-born player has spent the last year on the sidelines while dealing with mental health issues after he admitted to using racist language against former Yorkshire team mate Azeem Rafiq.
Yorkshire, who released Ballance two years early from his contract as per the player’s wishes, have made sweeping changes following Rafiq’s explosive allegations of institutional racism at the club. Ballance has apologised to Rafiq in person.
Ever since Brendon McCullum launched the Indian Premier League into the financial stratosphere with a stunning innings that lit up the inaugural match in 2008, other countries have worked feverishly to emulate it.
After two aborted attempts, South Africa’s third effort to establish a vibrant franchised T20 competition got under way on Tuesday in Cape Town, and it found its own McCullum in the preternaturally talented Dewald Brevis.
Imitation sprang readily to mind in this instance because all six of the South African franchises are owned by IPL teams: Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals own the teams in Cape Town and Paarl respectively, who were pitched against each other for the opening match.
The privately owned element of cricket is becoming ever more concentrated in the hands of IPL owners, who will be itching to get involved in England when the time comes.
