St. Lucia Zouks will want to send an immediate message to the competition of the 2019 HERO Caribbean Premier League (CPL) when they battle the Guyana Amazon Warriors at Providence tonight.
Zouks’ have suffered an inconsistent run in the past, once setting the record in the CPL with a 15-match losing streak which was broken last season but now, with a burst of energy, their captain, Darren Sammy believes they have what it takes to win.
“We’ve got to win games, we can’t get the title if you don’t win cricket matches and that would be our focus, we have the guys in the dressing room that can make that happen,” Sammy said.
The two-time World T20 winning captain acknowledged the Warriors’ success, saying “we are just looking forward to starting here against a very consistent Amazon Warriors team who have done really well over the years.”
Head Coach, James Foster noted that the team, despite arriving in Guyana one day prior to the match had a good week of training in St. Lucia and was confident about their campaign start.
“We had a good week in St. Lucia, a slight disruption with the potential hurricane so a few flights were delayed but gradually our squad started building up. We’ve worked really hard and are pleased with where we are at the moment, and we’ve had a good game and a good scenario session. In terms of our squad, we are all here, apart from the three West Indies boys who will join tonight. In the camp there are a lot of excitement about the season,” Foster stated.
The franchise had been in turmoil leading up to the tournament, with the rebranding from Stars to Zouks, a move which is most welcomed by the team.
Foster said, “It is a lot of excitement about being the Zouks again, which I think goes a long way for us as a franchise and I know everyone is really excited about going the long way.”
St. Lucia Zouks will be boosted by the
likes of Andre Fletcher at the top of the order along with West Indies opener, John Campbell. The middle-order could see an appearance by Guyana-born, Christopher Barnwell along with all-rounders, Thisara Perera, and Colin De Grandhomme while the bowling department may see a brigade of left-arm seamers including former Warriors, Kishmar Santokie, Kesrick Williams and Obed McCoy along with legspinner, Fahwad Ahmed.
