#CPL17
Barbados-bound Dwayne Smith determined to regain Hero CPL title
Dwayne Smith believes that the Barbados Tridents are well placed to mount a charge to regain the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL). But the prodigal son, who transferred from Guyana Amazon Warriors in the close season, believes that this year will be the most competitive across all six franchises.
In an exclusive interview ahead of the Hero Player Draft which takes place in Barbados on Friday (10am local time), the West Indies international, who played in 33 T20 internationals has scored 1,061 Hero CPL career runs in 41 games for the Tridents and the Amazon Warriors to date, said that he is as motivated as ever to help the Tridents regain the title they last won in 2014.
During that season, the 33-year-old lit up the tournament top-scoring with an unbeaten 110 and chipped in with another century and a fifty to propel Kieron Pollard’s men to the title for the first time.
Looking ahead to the fifth instalment of the biggest party in sport, Smith said: “Winning competitions has always been my motivation. So, for me, to perform and get my team into a position where we can win a competition would be great. But yes, it is a challenge, because there are some other good teams around. I’m sure that St. Kitts (& Nevis Patriots) is going to be boosted by Chris Gayle, Trinidad (TKR) has always been good, St. Lucia is getting better.”
*In Part 2 of this exclusive interview, which will be released on Friday following the Player Draft, Dwayne talks about returning to Barbados, what it means to him and his insights on the squad.
ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE:
The HERO Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Over 149 million fans watched the 2016 season, combining broadcast and digital viewership, to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Jamaica Tallawahs are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders.
