FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bridgetown, 1 March 2017

Tom Moody hails “growing international appeal” of the biggest party in sport

Australian contingency reaches 28; 17 New Zealanders gunning for selection

England’s T20 typhoon Tymal Mills aiming to make Hero CPL debut

Pakistan list swells to 46 as Afghanistan contingent eye tournament bows

A record number of local and international stars have been officially registered for the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Player Draft which takes place on Friday, 10 March in Barbados.

In all, 258 players from across the Caribbean and most of the leading cricketing nations are in the frame to secure a coveted place in the tournament, which is this year scheduled to take place between 1 August and 9 September, with fixtures and dates to be announced in due course.

Commenting on this year’s list of applicants both in the West Indies and across the world, Director of International Cricket for CPL, Tom Moody said: “T20 is capturing the world of cricket by storm, and with the huge numbers of talented players from across the cricketing world eager to sign up to the biggest party in sport, I’ve no doubt that the 2017 season will be our best yet.

“In attracting the cream of international talent from a healthy blend of established and fast-developing nations, it extends the growing international appeal of the sport and of the Hero CPL itself, and I have no doubt that we are going to see a hugely contested Player Draft in Barbados on March 10^th.”

There’s a strong list of West Indies talent who were both drafted and undrafted in 2016, including former Antigua Hawksbills and St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots star all-rounder Marlon Samuels who was the man of the match for the West Indies in their ICC World T20 final victory over England last year.

There will be 28 players from Australia in the Draft, an increase of six from the 2016 campaign, including a blend of experience in Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus and Brad Hogg allied to a crop of up-and-coming talent which includes leg-spinner Adam Zampa who was a star for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2016 season. A further 17 New Zealanders, including the likes of Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott and Jimmy Neesham, are also in the mix.

England have four players and included is T20 specialist fast bowler Tymal Mills, who made his T20 international debut for England against Sri Lanka last summer, and is an eye-catching addition amongst the contenders who will be aiming to secure a place in the Hero CPL for the first time. Ireland will have three representatives in the Draft.

Pakistan will have the highest representation in the Draft after increasing last year’s tally from 38 players to 46. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s rise in the shortest format of the game sees Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi named in a five-strong contingent who will also be hoping to make their tournament bows.

With the high-profile transfers of Chris Gayle (Jamaica Tallawahs to St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots) and Dwayne Smith (Guyana Amazon Warriors to Barbados Tridents) already confirmed, the list does not include those players who have been retained by their franchises. They, like the marquee players, will be announced at the Player Draft on March 10^th.

Players Registered for 2017 Hero CPL Draft (253):

AFGHANISTAN (5): Rashid Khan, Nawroz Mangal, Mohammad Nabi, Asghar Stanikzai, Najibullah Zadran

AUSTRALIA (28): Sean Abbott, Fawad Ahmed, Tom Beaton, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Doug Bollinger, Cameron Boyce, Joe Burns, Ureshen Chinia, Tom Cooper, Ben Cutting, Ben Dunk, Cameron Gannon, Chris Green, Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hogg, Ben Laughlin, Jake Lehmann, Nic Maddinson, Ben McDermott, Shaun Marsh, Ben Rohrer, Alex Ross, D’Arcy Short, Mark Steketee, Jake Weatherald, Adam Zampa

BANGLADESH (4): Tuskin Ahmed, Anamul Haque, Tamim Iqbal (St. Lucia Zouks), Mahmudullah Riad

CANADA (2): Rizwan Cheema, Ruvindu Gunasekera

ENGLAND (4): Recordo Gordon, Tymal Mills, Monty Panesar, Ashar Zaidi

IRELAND (3): George Dockrell (T&T Red Steel), Kevin O’Brien (T&T Red Steel), Niall O’Brien

NEW ZEALAND (17): Corey Anderson, Hamish Bennett, Tom Bruce, Mark Chapman, Colin de Grandhomme, Anton Devcich (Trinbago Knight Riders), Grant Elliott (St. Lucia Zouks), Lachlan Ferguson, Jimmy Neesham, Narun Nethula, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Hamish Rutherford, Jesse Ryder, Ish Sodhi, Anurag Verma, Ben Wheeler

OMAN (1): Sufyan Mehmood

PAKISTAN (46): Ehsan Adil, Tanwir Afzal, Iftikhar Ahmad, Sarfraz Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Adnan Akmal, Kamran Akmal (T&T Red Steel), Umar Akmal (Trinbago Knight Riders), Fawad Alam, Anwar Ali, Hassan Ali, Rahat Ali, Umar Amin, Yasir Arafat, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Zulfiqar Babar, Bilawal Bhatti, Salman Butt, Asghar Durrani, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Mir Hamza, Faisal Iqbal, Muhammad Irfan, Imran Khalid, Imran Khan, Jr., Junaid Khan, Shadab Khan, Shahzaib Khan, Sohail Khan, Ahsan Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Ghulam Mudassar, Mohammed Nawaz, Sikandar Raza, Wahab Riaz, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Sami, Asad Shafiq, Yasir Shah, Ahmad Shahzad (Jamaica Tallawahs & Barbados Tridents), Mohammad Shahzad, Hussain Talat, Misbah-ul-Haq, Amir Yamin

SOUTH AFRICA (16): Farhaan Behardien, Johan Botha, Dillon du Preez, Rob Frylinck, Beuran Hendricks, Eddie Leie, George Linde, Aiden Markram, Justin Ontong, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander (Jamaica Tallawahs), Dwaine Pretorius, Jon Jon Smuts (St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Grant Thomson, Shadley van Schalkwyk

SRI LANKA (19): Dushmantha Chameera, Niroshan Dickwella, Anuk Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Kamara, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Farveez Maharoof, Jeevan Mendis (Barbados Tridents), Kausal Mendis, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ramith Rambukwelle, Gihan Rupasinghe, Sachithra Senanayake, Dusan Shanaka, Kaushal Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Jeffrey Vandersay

USA (1): Zishawn Querishi

WEST INDIES – drafted in 2016 (26): Christopher Barnwell (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Sulieman Benn (Trinbago Knight Riders), Devendra Bishoo (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Nkrumah Bonner (Jamaica Tallawahs), Anthony Bramble (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Yannic Cariah (Trinbago Knight Riders), Derone Davis (T&T Red Steel & St. Lucia Zouks), Shannon Gabriel (St. Lucia Zouks), Kyle Hope (Barbados Tridents), Delorn Johnson (St. Lucia Zouks), Alzarri Joseph (St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Jeremiah Louis, Kyle Mayers (St. Lucia Zouks), Andre McCarthy (Jamaica Tallawahs), Ashley Nurse (Barbados Tridents), Orlando Peters (Antigua Hawksbills, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots & Guyana Amazon Warriors), Anderson Phillip (Trinbago Knight Riders), Gidron Pope (St. Lucia Zouks), Christopher Powell (Jamaica Tallawahs), Kristopher Ramsarran (St. Lucia Zouks), Krishmar Santokie (Guyana Amazon Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs & St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Lendl Simmons (Guyana Amazon Warriors & St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Navin Stewart (Guyana Amazon Warriors & Barbados Tridents), Steven Taylor (Barbados Tridents), Chadwick Walton (Jamaica Tallawahs), Paul Wintz (Guyana Amazon Warriors)

WEST INDIES – undrafted in 2016 (81): Nicholas Alexis, Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris (St. Lucia Zouks), Justin Athanaze (Antigua Hawksbills), Jonathan Augustus, Robin Bacchus, Tino Best (St. Lucia Zouks), Ansil Bhagan, Jermaine Blackwood (Jamaica Tallawahs), Travis Blyden, Justin Brathwaite, Gavan Brown, Odean Brown (Jamaica Tallawahs), John Campbell, Jon-Ross Campbell, Kellon Carmichael, Keacy Carty, Stephan Casey, Rajendra Chandrika, Derwin Christian, Rahkeem Cornwall (Antigua Hawksbills), Keron Cottoy (St. Lucia Zouks), Dane Currency, Marvin Darlington, Narsingh Deonarine (Jamaica Tallawahs), Akeem Dewar, Mark Deyal, Javelle Glen, Jyd Goolie, Nicholson Gordon, Derval Green, Trevon Griffith (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Jahmar Hamilton, Keon Harding, Jermain Harrison, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Alcindo Holder, Danza Hyatt, Damian Jacobs, Ricky Jaipaul, Amir Jangoo, Ray Jordan (St. Lucia Zouks), Keon Joseph, Kavesh Kantasingh, Richard Kelly, Brandon King, Christopher Lamont, Yannick Leonard, Reynard Leveridge, Kennar Lewis, Xavier Marshall, Marquino Mindley, Vikash Mohan, Gudakesh Motie, Raj Nannan, Ewart Nicholson, Ryan Nurse, Kjorn Ottley, Keemo Paul, Amit Persaud, Adelvin Phillip, Omar Phillips, Khary Pierre, Roshan Primus, Isaiah Rajah, Marlon Richards, Kemar Roach, Peat Salmon, Marlon Samuels (Antigua Hawksbills & St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Liam Sebastian (St. Lucia Zouks), Damani Sewell, Romario Shepherd, Gajanand Singh, Odean Smith, Kevin Stoute, Jacques Taylor, Gavin Tonge (Antigua Hawksbills), Ryan Wiggins, Tonito Willett, Gavin Williams, Oraine Williams

ZIMBABWE (4): Elton Chigumbura, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Malcolm Waller

ABOUT THE HERO CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE:
The HERO Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere. Over 149 million fans watched the 2016 season, combining broadcast and digital viewership, to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket. Jamaica Tallawahs are the current Hero CPL champions and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Lucia Zouks, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Trinbago Knight Riders.

-END-

For further information please contact:

Peter Breen
Head of PR and Communications
Caribbean Premier League
Mobile: +353-85-7205752
Skype: pbreen67

Patrons were out in their numbers yesterday at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay for the fourth staging of the Rainforest Seafood Festival.

Organisers are hoping to raise more than $10 million from this year’s staging for donation to the We Care Foundation, which provides financial support to the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

In addition to the rich entertainment package, patrons were treated to an array of seafood by more than 20 vendors from across the island, including Little Ochi Seafood, Gloria’s, and Sharkies, as well as lionfish dishes courtesy of the Montego Bay Marine Park and the Fish Pot Truck.

Below are highlights from the event.

Errol Whyte from Sweet Spice preparing escoveitched fish.

Patrons Dionna Lindo (left) and Tamieka Lindo having a seafood meal at the festival yesterday. (Photos:Aceion Cunningham)

Sacha Gaye Johnson enjoying Rainforest Seafood saltfish fritter.

Little Ochi was a big hit with patrons at the festival.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/westernnews/Rainforest-Seafood-Festival-four_91127

Sophia Grant tucking into lobster (ACEION CUNNINGHAM)

The return of the Rainforest Seafood Festival was clearly a welcomed addition to this year’s foodie calendar as hundreds of patrons turned out ahead of the 11:00 am start yesterday at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre.

Patrons were treated to tasty offerings from several food purveyors serving up lobster, conch, fish done in several ways, shrimp and several seafood mixes. Jerk fish from Little Ochie was a standout.

It was clearly a day for family fun and food and several family members could be seen bonding over meals under the huge tents.

The Rainforest Seafood Festival is staged in order to raise much-needed funds for the Cornwall Regional Hospital. All proceeds from the event go to the We Care Foundation dedicated solely to raising funds for the hospital.

Here are highlights from the event.

Lobster was a crowd favourite based on the reasonable prices. (Aceion Cunningham)

Fried fish from Little Ochie’s food stall. (Aceion Cunningham)

Lobster from Sweet Spice (Aceion Cunningham)

Fried fish being prepared at Little Ochie’s food stall. (Aceion Cunningham)

Kedian Nelson enjoys shrimp from the Middle Quarters group. (Aceion Cunningham)

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lifestyle/Succulent-Seafood-Eats_91125

Jamaica Carnival blazed the streets from Hope Gardens to Emancipation Park with a high-energy, trial-route road march on Sunday.

Selected carnival junkies were invited to partake in a fun-filled day as bystanders were given a taste of what to expect on April 23.

Patrons were in high spirits as they chipped down Hope Road, music filled the air, and bystanders joined in the excitement along the way. The Wray & Nephew music truck as well an added infusion of revelry by DJ Kurt Riley set the tone for a great day. The true meaning of carnival was felt — togetherness and unity — ‘Out of Many, One Carnival’, the theme of the new revolutionised Jamaica Carnival.

“The good original carnival is what we want to bring to Jamaica — no gimmicks, just real authentic carnival that we all can enjoy. With J Wray and Nephew now as our title sponsor, the sky is the limit. We can now bring the type of carnival that I’m sure a lot of original carnival goers have been missing. We ready for the road, so don’t count us out!” said Julianne Lee, managing director of Jamaica Carnival.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Jamaica-Carnival-takes-to-the-streets_90990

Below are highlights from the event.

Pietro Gramegna, marketing manager, Campari, was a part of the excitement.

Revellers enjoyed being back pon di road.

Dr Kayan Smith enjoying the music

Deaf Can Coffee brewed success at the SEBI Pitch for Purpose Competition last Friday evening, winning a business development award valued at $1 million. The award is earmarked to be used towards the upgrading of the Deaf Can mobile cafe. Here, Deaf Can Coffee officials Fabian Jackson (second left), assistant manager; Andrine Smith (centre), barista; and Carlisle Gabbinon (second right), manager, display the symbolic cheque and trophy with Saffrey Brown, general manager, JN Foundation; and Dane Richardson, CEO, Digicel Foundation.

Source: Jamaica Observer

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Feb. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Digicel today announced its Digicel 2030 global transformation programme promising customers a completely new communications and entertainment experience made possible by a more agile, customer-centric application of resources and investment. 

Digicel also announced that it has signed a global partnership agreement with ZTE – a leading global provider of integrated telecommunication solutions – for an ongoing multi-year network upgrade programme.

These initiatives occur as telecoms providers across the globe move to benefit from significant technology advances and manage changing customer needs in terms of data usage and competitive threats from unregulated OTT operators.

Digicel becomes one of the first communications and entertainment providers in the world to initiate a wide scale transformation agenda. The core elements of the Digicel 2030 transformation see it undertaking a complete re-design of its organisational structure; putting customers in control and making a commitment to deliver a superior superfast network experience.

Organisational design
Digicel is designing and integrating its organisation to be fit for purpose for 2030 and beyond. The future organisational structure will comprise a small number of regional hubs (two for the Caribbean andCentral America regions and two for the Pacific region) housing back office centralised functions and delivering shared services allowing staff in Digicel’s 31 markets to focus on sales and enhanced service delivery – and ensuring that resources and investment are prioritised to drive competition and innovation.

This will result in an approximate 25% reduction of the global workforce over the next 18 months with the first step in the process being the offer of an Enhanced Voluntary Separation Programme opening on 1^stMarch 2017.

Enhanced customer experience
Over the last three years, Digicel has invested over US$1.65 billion in upgrading its networks and platforms and in rolling out fibre to the home and mobile broadband connectivity. Of particular note is the success of its fibre to the home offering with Digicel racking up 120,000 customers to date – well ahead of its business plan.

Coupled with a “digital first” approach, this means customers can enjoy an enhanced entertainment, content and business solutions experience with an array of advanced new products and services and a refreshed retail experience putting customers in the driving seat with Digicel delivering their total communications needs.

Network experience
With a hallmark of providing customers with the best network, Digicel is now taking things to the next level and initiating an ongoing data network upgrade programme. To this end, a global partnership agreement was signed on 9^th February in Shenzhen, China, by Digicel Chairman, Denis O’Brien and Dr. Zhao, Chairman and CEO of ZTE. With rollout commencing in the coming months, this is the largest network transformation ever undertaken by Digicel and customers will very soon start to see the benefits.

Commenting on the programme, Digicel Group CEO, Colm Delves, explains; “We are building Digicel for 2030 and beyond. Our transformation programme sees us taking the bull by the horns and daring to be different by challenging the status quo and by innovation-led growth. That’s what we are known for and that’s what we will continue to be known for into the future.”

He continues; “Over the years, we have built a great company with a proud legacy of democratising communications and making an impactful contribution to countries and people across the globe. That’s something we all take great pride in. Now we’re on a mission to build Digicel for the future with our sights set on delivering a superior superfast network experience and putting our customers in control.”

About Digicel
Digicel Group is a leading global communications provider with operations in 31 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and South Pacific. After 15 years of operation, total investment to date stands at over US$5 billion worldwide. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.

Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes.

Contact:
Antonia Graham
Head of Group Public Relations
T: +1876 564 1708
E : antonia.graham@digicelgroup.com

SOURCE Digicel

http://www.military-technologies.net/2017/02/22/digicel-2030-global-transformation-programme-begins/

On Friday, February 24, which was celebrated as Jamaica Day, a team from Rainforest Seafoods visited Iris Gelly Primary School located in Kingston, where they treated over 180 students with seafood products sold by the company. The visit also incorporated the launch of their feeding initiative for students who will sit the Grade Six Achievement Test next month.

For more than 15 years, Chris Davitt and Craig Ruppert, along with their families and friends from the United States, have changed the lives of more than 160 families in Jamaica and Haiti in partnership with Food For The Poor (FFP) Jamaica.

Davitt and Ruppert have travelled to Jamaica each year since 2001 with a team of volunteers to construct several houses for people who need a safe and secure place to live.

This year, a group of 50 volunteers and staff members of FFP Jamaica built 16 houses, one chicken coop and a pig pen in the Clarendon communities of Race Course, Hayes Field and Banks.

Transformative Gift

Midge McDonald, who received one of the 16 houses, said the gift would be transformative because of the challenges she faced at the old home she shared with her brother.

“The floor is made of board and it was very shaky and there were holes all over. The roof was also in a poor state because when it rain it leaked badly,” said McDonald.

“I’ve fallen through the floor before and had to go to the hospital for treatment, and so we were in desperate need of a house,” continued McDonald, who received the keys to her house during a recent ceremony.

Tackee Anderson, who was also living in a dilapidated house, expressed happiness at getting a new one.

“My cousin and I were always worried that the one-room structure we were living in with our two children would one day fall down on us. We are really grateful and we give thanks to our donors for making our lives better,” said Anderson.

Speaking at the handover ceremony at the Race Course Primary School, Ruppert promised that his team would return to Jamaica next year to construct housing solutions for more needy families.

“We really want to thank all the beneficiaries and their families for welcoming us to your homes and community in such a special way. We enjoy what we do in coming down every year to build houses for needy families in Jamaica, and the smiles, happiness and gratitude you have shared with the team over the years convince us that you are appreciative of us and what we are doing in your community,” said Ruppert.