By Neto Baptiste
Antiguan and West Indies spin bowler Rahkeem Cornwall believes the team that represented the St Lucia Zouks in this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in Trinidad was the best in the last four years.
The off-break bowler, who was not as fortunate with the ball in this year’s tournament as he was in previous years, said that not having any “big stars” on the roster, coupled with the captaincy of Darren Sammy, may have motivated the players to reach for the stars.
“I think this team that reached the finals this year, we didn’t really have no big stars or big names. We had players that were committed, players that want to win cricket game and Darren Sammy is a good leader. He always frees you up in the dressing room, doesn’t put any pressure on you and he always backs you to go out there, execute your skills and trusts your game. Hhe is just a good leader,” he said.
Zouks reached the CPL final for the first time but were beaten by the more experienced Trinbago Knight Riders who became the first team to go through an entire CPL season undefeated.
Cornwall, who is currently in Antigua, said he has enjoyed his time with the St Lucia franchise thus far.
“I enjoy being with the Zouks; this is my fourth year and I think this would be, I would say, my best year with the Zouks knowing that we won a couple of games and ended up in the finals. It was a good feeling and I think that from day one, once we got together as a group the aim and the focus was to get to the playoffs and we did that and ended up in the finals,” he said.
Cornwall claimed only two wickets in 10 matches during this year’s tournament. In his 10 innings, he scored 182 runs with a highest of 32. He had an average of 20.22 and was his team’s fourth highest scorer in the tournament.