Rayon Griffith has been appointed lead coach while Nicholas Pooran was named captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors for this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
The five-time runner-up franchise made this announcement yesterday with just over a week until their opening encounter against defending champions, Trinbago Knight Riders on August 26.
Griffith has been with the franchise for the last three seasons as the assistant coach and is currently with the West Indies Test team in Jamaica where they are playing Pakistan.
According to team manager, Omar Khan, “We have not had the appointment of a head coach but we have appointed Rayon Griffith as our lead coach and he will be supported by our strength and conditioning coach, Clinton Jeremiah for this tournament.”
Pooran will take up the mantle to lead the side having been with the franchise since 2019. The 25-year-old wicketkeeper has featured in the CPL since its inception back in 2013, playing two seasons for the Trinidad franchise.
The left-handed batsman then moved to the Barbados Tridents from 2016 to 2018.
“We have been very pleased and good to see the progress he has made throughout the years he has been with us here in Guyana and of course we all know he was captain of the West Indies T20 squad in the recently concluded series against Australia and he has also been West Indies T20 vice-captain for over a year or so. So I think it is a good progression in his career path and we want to give him full support,” Khan said.
In a statement, Pooran said, “I am really excited to be taking up this new challenge,” adding, “We have a great team unity going and we support each other fully. I am looking forward to getting our tournament off to a winning start.”
Pooran will not have the services of Afghanistan wrist spinner, Waqar Salamkheil.
According to Khan, Salamkheil was unable to make the trip. “First of all visa issues and then of course obviously the situation in Afghanistan so he is out of the tournament so we are down to 15 players.”
Khan added that the franchise will stick to the 15 players due to the current situation with the pandemic and the challenges of getting players across due to travelling and other logistics.
Full squad: Nicholas Pooran (C), Anthony Bramble, Kevin Sinclair, Imran Tahir, Mohammad Hafeez, Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Odean Smith, Ashmead Nedd, Shoaib Malik, Nial Smith, Brandon King, Naveen-ul-Haq, Gudakesh Motie.
