US leg will be good for CPL: Chris Gayle

As Caribbean Premier League 2016 gears up for its six-day stint in the United States of America, a scarcely-explored cricketing territory, Chris Gayle, the Jamaica Tallawahs captain and one of most revered T20 stars, has voiced his support for making it a regular feature of the T20 tournament. Starting Thursday (July 28), six fixtures of the ongoing CPL 2016 will be held at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill in Florida.


The West Indian batsman suggested taking the tournament back to the US each season to establish a strong fan base and break into the market. "I think the US is cricket-orientated. When you look at the mixed culture here over in the US, I think you have a huge cricket base and cricket fans over here as well," he said on the sidelines of a training session in Florida on Tuesday (July 26).
 
"Hopefully the CPL will actually be consistent with having games here in the US. If it's just a one-off thing, then it'll be a problem for the game of cricket in the United States as well. If it can actually progress, I know this leg will be a good one for CPL and if it can continue next year and keep letting the people here in the US get a chance to see it live, then it should be a fantastic thing for the game of cricket here in the US as well."
 
The free-spirited cricketer, who found similarities between the lifestyles in US and the West Indies, was upbeat about playing in the US and reckoned big crowds will line-up to fill the stands from Thursday. 
 
"It's like here in the Caribbean. The sun is out, the beach is just down the road as well. I know everybody's looking forward to it. South Beach is a bit further away and everybody's having a good time as well. But it's just good to be back and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to play here again. Hopefully this will be a new beginning for CPL and will hope it progress over the next few years as well."
 
"I think the CPL will bring out the crowd once more. The atmosphere that they've seen on TV, I'm sure they want to experience it for themselves as well so hopefully we get a good [crowd to] start on Thursday and then it'll progress over the weekend as well. So it should be a good one and I'm looking forward to it.
 
Dwayne Bravo's Trinbago Knight Riders will take on Faf du Plessis-led St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the first game in Florida on Thursday, while Gayle's Tallawahs and Darren Sammy's St Lucia Zouks will round-off the US leg on July 31, before the action shifts back to the Caribbean for the knockout stage from August 3.