CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC- The St. Lucia Zouks are due to open the home series of matches in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with an evening clash against St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots on 21 July.
The Zouks are scheduled to face four opponents in a combination of day and night time games in a big month for the island at the height of the country’s popular Carnival celebrations.
The opening match against the Patriots will mark the launch of the newly re-named 12,400 capacity Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, previously known as the Beauséjour Stadium.
“I am hugely excited by the opportunity to lead the Zouks once more this year,” said Zouks captain, St. Lucian Sammy, who led West Indies to World T20 Championship honours in India recently.
“We have assembled our strongest squad of players to date and we will aim to be competitive this season. It’s encouraging to see such a blend of youth and experience and I have no doubt that the team is best-placed to reach the play-offs”.
The Zouks squad includes Sammy’s fellow world champion Johnson Charles who is being honored with a stand in the stadium renamed after him.
The Zouks line-up also features another local favourite Keddy Lesporis, Australia duo Michael Hussey and the world’s leading international ranked all-rounder Shane Watson.
The Australian stars will join South Africa pair David Miller and Morne Morkel, while ICC Under-19 World Cup winning off-spinning all-rounder Gidron Pope is also included.
“Of course, I will be hugely honoured to step out at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium and it will be a special moment for me and my family when we take on the Patriots in that opening game,” said Sammy.
“I have a lot of happy memories playing in Beauséjour Stadium and hopefully this will mark a new and exciting era for St. Lucia”.
The St. Lucia based side will be coached by Stuart Williams, who was part of the West Indies backroom team that lifted the ICC World Twenty20 in India recently, while Caribbean great Sir Andy Roberts and former England, India and Sri Lanka Assistant Coach Trevor Penney will also feature in the support staff.
“There’s a lot of excitement across the island already,” said Sammy.
“This will be a crucial leg of matches before we move on to the back-to-back games against Jamaica Tallawahs in Fort Lauderdale the following week”.
