00:00The 2024 Republic Bank CPL is currently on with the tournament having started on August
00:0529th. The first edition of the tournament was back in 2013 with many Caribbean fans
00:11agreeing that it's the biggest party in sport.
00:14Guyana-born journalist John Ram Singh has seen many improvements with the introduction
00:18of the competition.
00:19So facilities have been top-notch to facilitate top-notch cricket. Also look at umpiring or
00:25match officials. I think our regional umpires who are, you know, thrown in the deep end
00:30sometimes are with some of the international counterparts. They have done well. They have
00:36maintained high standards as well, not only for themselves, but for the tournament. And
00:41then of course cricket.
00:42When you look at cricket, Westernies have been able to dominate world cricket, especially
00:47in T20s, especially in white ball format. And I can say not only because of CPL, but
00:53because of what these players bring to CPL. Because not only that they turn up in the
01:00numbers for CPL matches in terms of players, but you see because of CPL they expose themselves
01:05to the rest of the world and they get contracts to go on to play in the Big Bash, to play
01:10in the 100, to play in the IPL.
01:12Having said that, Ram Singh believes there's always room for improvement. For one, he says
01:17better scheduling is important for fans who have to go to work the following day.
01:22If you can schedule more games, like on the weekends, when players, sorry, when families
01:28and so on are more available, that would be something interesting. I know we have a lot
01:33of games in the week because of that schedule like I mentioned, but you really want to see
01:38crowds coming out in numbers. You don't want to see empty seats because as professionals
01:42these guys would love to entertain the masses, not only on television, but also in the stands.
01:48TKR have the most titles, which is four, followed by the now defunct Jamaica Talawars with three.
01:53The Barbados Royals have two, while the Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots
01:59have one each. So who in Ram Singh's view is the favourite for 2024?
02:04If you look at the Guyana Amazon Warriors, the way they have gone about their business
02:07as defending champions, you cannot rule them out at all. That's one. TKR, they're heavily
02:13stacked with superstars. You cannot rule them out at all. They know how to win big matches.
02:18They know how to win matches. But then you look at the rest. Barbados Royals, they've
02:23been always decent contenders. They've always been a team that you can really look out for.
02:30Those two teams, the Patriots and the St Lucia Kings for me, they're not looking that strong.
02:36Kings started pretty well with some wins, but I think history shows that they were in
02:42consistency as well. So the Falcons getting into the top three, that'll be my final four pick.
02:47The playoffs and finals take place at the Providence Stadium in Guyana,
02:50with October 6th being the day to decide who lifts the trophy.
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