GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Veerasammy Permaul will lead the Guyana Harpy Eagles for the first time in this year’s West Indies Super50 Cup, which starts next Tuesday in Trinidad.
The long-serving left-arm spinner replaces long-standing captain and fellow international Leon Johnson, who retired from the senior West Indies domestic scene this past April after leading the Harpy Eagles to the West Indies Championship for a sixth time in the franchise era.
Permaul will have the benefit of five players that were part of the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad that won the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 tournament for the first time in six tries last month on home soil at the Guyana National Stadium.
The list of players includes the West Indies trio of left-handed batsman Shimron Hetmyer, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, and all-rounder Romario Shepherd, discarded West Indies duo of pacer Ronsford Beaton and left-handed batsman Chandrapaul Hemraj, as well as emerging batsman Kelvon Anderson.
A major omission from the Harpy Eagles squad is West Indies all-rounder Keemo Paul, who is still trying to recover from the leg injury he suffered during the qualifying final of the CPL last month, while long-standing, hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman Anthony Bramble has failed to make the final cut.
The Harpy Eagles reached the semi-finals of last year’s tournament, where they were beaten by eventual champions Jamaica Scorpions by three wickets in a nailbiting contest.
They open this year’s tournament against Windward Islands Volcanoes in a day-night contest on the first match day of the tournament at the Brian Lara Cricket Ground.
Squad:
Veerasammy Permaul (captain), Tevin Imlach (vice-captain), Kelvon Anderson, Ronsford Beaton, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Gudakesh Motie, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Samson, Kemol Savory, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Niall Smith.
