CPL draft to be streamed live

Bridgetown (Barbados), June 5 (IANS/CMC) The eagerly anticipated draft of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be streamed live from Jamaica Wednesday, organisers have announced.

Fans and players alike will be able to follow the draft on the CPL website and facebook page to see the six franchises being filled with players from 1 p.m. Eastern Caribbean Time (10.30 p.m. IST), reports CMC.

"There has been much anticipation about the draft," said Damien O'Donohoe, CPL's CEO.

"Fans are eager to know which teams their favourite players are going to be drafted to play on, and the players themselves want to know which side they will be suiting up for so we will be using the power of social media to get the word out as quickly as we can."

The Selection Committee for each team consists of the Head Coach, Assistant Coach and the International and West Indian franchise players for that particular team.

They will pick the teams via Skype and the process will be supervised by former Jamaica prime minister PJ Patterson, and Walter Scott and Lance Gibbs of the CPL Cricket Committee.

"Although most of the West Indian and International franchise players are unable to physically attend the draft due to playing commitments they will be with their coaches utilising technology," said O'Donohoe.

"Obviously the franchise players have a vested interest in seeing the best possible team compiled and so they have been very involved in the process."

CPL says it has chosen a fair and controlled system for their first year unlike the Indian Premier League (IPL) which does an auction.

Each team will be made up from 15 squad players with the first two players of each team being the pre-selected West Indian and international franchise players.

The remaining 13 will comprise four Elite players (West Indian and International), seven Eligible players and two Under-23 players who will be selected from three pools.

"A draft ensures that salaries are kept within the established range," explained O'Donohoe.

"We wanted to provide solid income for the players, but move away from the auction/sale format and ensure consistency within the draft round picks. This format encourages picking of players who have been top performers and gives them higher salaries for being picked in the earlier rounds."

The inaugural Caribbean Premier League starts on July 30 in Barbados and concludes Aug 24 in Trinidad.

--IANS/CMC

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