Guyana Amazon Warriors have stepped up their preparations for the forthcoming HERO Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season by confirming New Zealand star batsman Martin Guptill as their captain.
The 29-year-old is the franchise's marquee player and is currently ranked third in the ICC World T20 batting rankings.
This will be Guptill's fourth season in the CPL overall, and third with the Warriors, having also previously featured for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots (in 2015). In 28 CPL games to date he averages 35.7, including seven half-centuries, with a highest score of 90.
Commenting on his selection, Martin Guptill said: "It is a huge thrill and a great honour for me to be selected as Guyana Amazon Warriors captain for the forthcoming CPL season. Guyana is a cricket-rich nation and has produced many outstanding West Indies cricketers, not least Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Colin Croft, Lance Gibbs, Carl Hooper and the great Sir Clive Lloyd, amongst many others. I am conscious of Guyana's heritage and standing in the Caribbean, and proud to lead the team into battle this year.
"I am really excited about working with a talented crop of emerging local and international talent and we will be working hard to try and be consistent and go one step further and clinch the title which has eluded the Warriors on two occasions. Of course this summer we will also be travelling to Central Broward Stadium in Florida which is a really positive development for CPL as we move into mainland USA. Speaking to some of the players already, there's already a lot of excitement about this step.
"I would like to thank the owners and coach Roger Harper for inviting me back and we are all focused on giving our wonderful supporters many happy memories later this summer. Providence Stadium is a ground that I have fond memories of playing in and I know that we can count on some big numbers for our games there again this summer."
The Aucklander enjoys a career average of 34.73 and strike rate of 131.44 from 61 games to date for the Black Caps. A mainstay in the New Zealand top order across all three formats, he recently featured in his fifth ICC World T20 event in India and was a key figure as his nation reached the semi-finals, scoring 140 runs in four games at an impressive strike rate of 157.30.