BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE St. Kitts-Nevis Patriots have winged out for the United States of America after completion of encampment and warm-up games ahead of their Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2017 opener against a strong Guyana Amazon Warriors line-up.
With the league bowling off on Friday, August 4 in Fort Lauderdale, the team was recently encamped in the Federation from August 26 and has departed for the United Sates today (Jul. 31).
Addressing reporters at a recent donation ceremony by one of the team’s sponsors, Chief Operations Officer Richard Berridge said the feeling within the camp is “excellent”.
Over the weekend, the Patriots had two practice matches, with the first being against a Premier X1 in Nevis on Saturday (Jul. 29), before flying to Antigua on the following day for the other one.
They will lock horns with the United States cricket team in another practice match on Wednesday (Aug. 2), before playing their first game in the tournament.
“Those would be our three warm-up games which we believe would give us the appropriate and required practice going into the game…[on] Saturday,” Berridge said.
He explained that the Patriots, like many of the other franchises, have been hit with a number of delays in the area of work permits for the United States leg of the tournament.
“You know we had a few issues with respect to the US work permits, just like everybody else has. We had a number of delays for extra processing and so forth. However, it hasn’t dampened the spirit of the team. There are guys who have not been able to make it yet [but] they would join us along the way…hopefully by Tuesday.”
He noted that players who were at the camp have put in exceptional work.
Berridge confirmed that the team’s line-up has been confirmed for the tournament, with the Patriots signing South African Vernon Philander as their final replacement player.
He is expected to join the team upon completion of his country’s Test tour of England, which wraps up today.
Meanwhile, the Patriots have swapped several players who would be in the West Indies unit to England for their Test series.
According to the COO, they lost four players, including Alzarri Joseph and Kieron Powell.
“They were replaced by Hassan Ali and Tonito Willet came in for Kieron Powell. Ben Cutting and Chris Morris dropped out as well. Cutting for injury and Morris did not obtain the No Objection Certificate that is required for the tournament.”
The 2017 CPL season bowls off on August 4 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with the St. Lucia Stars taking on the Trinbago Knight Riders from 21:00hrs.
