By Avenash Ramzan
The Guyana Amazon Warriors appear to be suffering the most from playing in front of empty stands in Hero Caribbean Premier League 2020.
Under normal circumstances, the five-time finalist would play in front a packed Providence Stadium for almost every home game. The venue is usually abuzz with deafening horns, a hyped DJ and thousands of Amazon Warriors flags being waved vigorously for every six or wicket.
With none of that for the 2020 tournament- COVID-19 restrictions have forced organisers to stage all games at two venues in Trinidad- the Warriors have endured a horrible run after their first six games, winning just two and losing their last three on the trot.
Their batting, strong on paper and with lots of promise prior to the tournament, has been horrendous, to put it mildly. It is their bowling, led by the skillful Imran Tahir, that has prevented bigger margins of defeat, taking games deep whenever opposition teams chase.
Skipper Chris Green, speaking after the latest loss, this time to the unbeaten Trinbago Knight Riders, touched on the impact on not having that ‘12th man’ cheering them on beyond the boundary.
“That’s a massive factor for all the teams. For Trinidad and Guyana, we get amazing support. Speaking of Guyana personally, Providence Stadium playing in front of our loyal home fans it’s an amazing feeling, it’s an amazing buzz,” the Australian said at the post-match presentation.
“It’s disappointing that we can’t get there yet (having fans at the games), but it’s even better that we’re able to play cricket still, turn up and put on a show for the fans.”
“I think it’s an amazing effort CPL has done to get all the players to commit to come to the CPL for this tournament. Credit’s got to go to everyone, we know how much support we’ve been getting through social media and we really appreciate that and it helps us get through moments like these as well.”
The “moments like these” referred to by the captain have been happening quite frequently for the Warriors this season.
They started with an opening loss against the Knight Riders on the opening day of the tournament, before two hard-fought wins over St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Jamaica Tallawahs got them back on track.
Since then though, it has gone downhill for the Warriors, being beaten by St. Lucia Zouks, Jamaica Tallawahs and Trinbago Knight Riders.
The Warriors are fourth on the table with four points, the same as Barbados Tridents and Jamaica Tallawahs. However, they are separated by Net Run Rate with Tridents in third and Tallawahs fifth.
Knight Riders lead the table with the maximum 10 points, two ahead of second placed St. Lucia Zouks.
St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots, whom the Warriors play in their next game on Sunday at 14:15h, are bottom of the table on two points, winning just one of their five matches.
