Zampa views CPL as an “exciting tournament”

By Akeem Greene

Australian Leg-spinner Adam Zampa has viewed the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as exciting and he is eager to showcase his talent for his franchise, the Guyana Amazon Warriors when the tournament bowls off on June 29.

In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport at the Guyana Marriott Hotel on Wednesday, the 24-year-old who was bought by the Warriors at the draft for US$60,000, revealed that the top ranked players participating makes the tournament exciting.

“The amount of players that will be playing in the competition, the class of AB de Villers and guys like that; in my team we have got [Martin] Guptil, [Chris Lynn] and those type of players too, so it’s an exciting tournament”, Zampa posited.

Zampa, along with Captain Martin Guptil, Sohail Tanvir and Australian team mate Chris Lynn will be the international quartet in the Warriors’ camp but Zampa believes Dwayne Smith could be the team’s trump card.

“I think our trump card is definitely going to be Dwayne Smith, the way he has played in the IPL [Indian Premier League], he is probably going to lead the way with bat and ball in the middle overs with me; but you got strike power like Guptil and Lynn, who has been amazing in twenty20 cricket recently; twenty20 is one of those formats where it can come off for you and I think we have gotten those players who are strike players and can win games for us,” Zampa said.

The leg-spinner revealed that his main goal is to contribute as much as possible to the team for its success.

“I will try and use my experience for the CPL but it definitely makes the job a lot easier if you can help out the team, the other players, for success in the tournament; if you don’t do well in a tournament like that, it can drag out, so success is pretty vital to your enjoyment”, the player revealed.

The player had a successful stint with the Pune Rising Super Giants in the recently concluded Indian Premier League where he took a remarkable 6 for 18 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in just his second match.

When quizzed on if he feels a pressure to perform in conditions that will be favourable to him, Zampa responded: “I’m not too sure, I don’t really think about the pressure, I keep my plans pretty simple, as I always said, what I do is fairly simple, so if all of that works and it helps the team.”

From 39 twenty20 matches, the bowler has taken 45 wickets at an economy rate of 7.08 and will have his first experience on Caribbean pitches when he participates in the Tri-Nation series which involves the West Indies and South Africa.

The Warriors will open the home series of matches with an evening clash against Jamaica Tallawahs on Thursday, 7 July.

On the weekend of 9 and 10 July they will then host St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Trinbago Knight Riders before completing the block of matches with a final home game against St. Lucia Zouks on Tuesday, 12 July.

Guyana Amazon Warriors Squad: Sohail Tanvir, Martin Guptill, Dwayne Smith, Chris Lynn, Rayad Emrit, Adam Zampa, Jason Mohammed, Christopher Barnwell, Veerasammy Permaul, Orlando Peters, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Steven Katwaroo, Ali Khan, Shimron Hetmyer.

(Reprinted: Guyana Times)