Guyanese all-rounder Steven Jacobs will turn out for the Jamaica Tallawahs in this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with the intention of bringing the fireworks to the biggest party in sport with, his bat.
Stabroek Sport caught up with the 30-year-old at his local Pike Street, Kitty business, Jacobs Jewellry and Pawn Shop where he discussed his ambitions for the Regional event along with what it bodes for the future of West Indies Cricket.
Jacobs, speaking of his batting said, “That’s one of the areas I want to capitalize on especially this year. I will probably be doing some private work with a coach so I can actually explore that part of my game in this coming CPL because it is an added faucet of the game and help me improve so I will be trying my best to prop up on my batting.”
The former West Indies Under-19 skipper stated that he wasn’t really surprised with his selection in the draft, crediting last season as “decent” and went on to express gratitude “to the father and the owners of the Tallawahs for their continued confidence.”
The all-rounder explained that he is predicting a better season than last year with his preparation already taking priority.
“Coming into this year, I would like to try and get a better season than I have had before so I am actually trying to prepare as early as possible so I could have that type of season… My preparation has been ongoing but I have to turn it up a notch now so my body should be in the right place so when the CPL or any other league comes along…” Jaccobs said.
The off-spinner reflected on the opportunity CPL brings “because obviously you get to rub shoulders with some of the biggest players in the world and also try to learn from them and feed off of them.”
Having been in the CPL from its birth back in 2013, he believes that this season could be the best one yet for his career.
Looking at the chances of Tallawahs winning the title for a second time, Jacobs had this to say…“Our chances obviously went up with the likes of Chris Gayle who is a match winner and a big player, you can see from the team we have a lot of players return so I really think we have a good opportunity.”
He, however, cautioned that it will be a keen contest with each team possessing match winners.
Jacobs, who featured for the championship winning team, Vancouver Knights alongside Gayle in the Global T20 Canada explained that he is still available for Guyana if they need him to play in any format but is focused on T20 currently since he has not been part of the Super50 team nor the Four-day team.
“I haven’t been playing for Guyana in the past year and a half but I have been playing club cricket and continue training so I have always been training both mentally and physically for whenever I got the opportunity in one of those franchises around the world,” Jacobs said.
“This is a door to break into the Guyana team and other franchises around the world because you are on the world stage and everyone is watching you so once I get in good performances there it will help me not only to get into Guyana but other franchises around the Caribbean, even in the Professional Cricket League so it opens a lot of doors.”
