Jamaica Tallawahs fast-bowler Andrew Richardson said he is fully fit and ready to play a major role in his team’s title defence in July’s 2014 second edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament, after recovering from a knee injury he sustained.
The 32 year-old ex-West Indies player during a special interview with Stabroek Sports yesterday from Jamaica spoke about his recovery, the CPL and his personal aims for the upcoming tournament.
Richardson, who has 192 first-class wickets from roughly 70 matches, has been in good form with both ball and bat for Jamaica in the ongoing West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional 4-day tournament but was forced to sit out the remaining rounds of the competition due to the knee injury. So far, however, he has been on a successfully path to full recovery.
“It’s hard for me to fully give a comment but I’m meeting my doctor today yesterday (Friday) or tomorrow (Saturday) to assess and evaluate the condition which will let me know what we need to do.
“But I do have time on my side and if it means that I will have to rest and sit out a few more of the 4-day games I just might have to,” said Richardson.
“At the moment my body is in good shape apart from the knee injury but it’s not something serious that will cause my spot in the CPL so I will be fit when that time comes.” The Tallawahs defeated the local side Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final of the inaugural CPL last year and Richardson explained that it was good to again represent his home team, while identifying potential aims of his team. “Well it’s very important to get off to a winning start in the early part of the tournament we will obviously looking to retain our title and hopefully I get to contribute more to my team winning this time around,” he said. The Tallawahs, who are similar to most teams in the tournament, possess a strong crop of local players who were retained while new faces such as Australian batsman Adam Voges, the South African T20 specialist bowler Juan “Rusty” Theron and Jamaican spinner Odean Brown were drafted into the Tallawahs camp.
Despite a new look Tallawahs team, the fast-bowler still thinks that his side has the perfect balance of players heading into the competition. “I’ve played cricket with Adam in Australia many years ago, he has a good ODI record, while Theron is a good bowler at the death and very deceptive with his pace,” Richardson explained.
He also lauded his teammate Brown who recently recovered from a knee injury stating: “I played all my cricketing life with Odean, he’s a fantastic cricketer with a regional record that speaks for itself”.
One notable absentee from the side is that of the hard- hitting Danza Hyatt who was snapped up by the Antigua Hawksbills and Richardson openly acknowledged that despite the wealth of talent in the side, Hyatt’s absence will be missed. “Of course we know how powerful a batter Danza is and his experience for Jamaica over the years led to some match-winning knocks, but we have good replacements, with some boundary hitters and experienced batters that have come into the team, we also have Chris (Gayle) who can be destructive but we will not be looking to put all the pressure on him,” stated the pacer.
He lauded the young all-rounders like Nkrumah Bonner and Jermaine Blackwood who he said were good young talents to look out for, while wishing Hyatt all the best with his new team.
The former West Indies Uner-19 player said he expects high competition throughout the tournament due to the teams being allowed to gel with some of their old mates from last year while the acquisition of new players will boost the level of performances in this year’s tournament.
From a more personal perspective, the burly Jamaican said that as long as he gets the opportunity to feature in more games he will play a bigger role in this year’s competition after appearing in only two matches last year for his team. He also humorously said that he will be seeking to be among the wickets whilst “Hitting a few sixes in the process.”
