By Neto Baptiste
Antiguan and West Indies fast bowler, Alzarri Joseph, has been retained by the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League.
In August last year, Joseph replaced Isuru Udana, after the player became unavailable for the Hero CPL due to international commitments. Joseph was just returning from an injury he sustained while playing for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April that same year.
The Antiguan, in 16 ODIs for the West Indies squad, has claimed 24 wickets at an average of 34.08.
The Patriots, on Wednesday, announced also it had chosen to retain or sign seven Caribbean players ahead of the CPL draft, including signing Denesh Ramdin from the Trinbago Knight Riders.
The other retained or signed players are Evin Lewis (Trinidad & Tobago), Fabian Allen (Jamaica), Sheldon Cottrell (Jamaica), Rayad Emrit (Trinidad & Tobago) and Dominic Drakes (Barbados).
The Patriots also announced Emrit will captain the team in 2020 edition of the tournament and Australian Simon Helmot will be the head coach.
Speaking on his appointment as captain, Emrit said: “I am very excited to be part of the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for a second season. I think that the team that is selected this year is going to be a very exciting one. I am very excited to be named as captain. It’s always an honour and a privilege to lead a franchise. Our new coach, Simon Helmot, knows the CPL and he knows how to win titles. He and I are going to work very hard to get the team to the finals.”
The CPL is scheduled to take place between August 19 and September 26. Tournament organisers are however monitoring the current situation with Covid-19 and are liaising with medical advisors and governments.
The draft is slated for this month.