The IPL has created a lot of interest over the last few weeks and that’s understandable given the money and the names involved. But I’m focusing on domestic cricket currently as Jamaica are going well.   

A word on the IPL first; I was satisfied with my price as $800,000 is certainly a lot of money. I had no idea my valuation would be so high so I have no complaints at this time. I’m really looking forward to it and it’s going to be really exciting to be part of.

India has always brought the best out in me; I have a good record there. I think I am right in saying that six of my 15 one-day centuries were scored in India so it shows how I enjoy playing there. I enjoy playing cricket there because the crowd really gets involved and love to be entertained. Sport is all about entertainment ultimately so if I can put on a show while I am doing a job for my team, that’s good. I feel it’s like giving back to the game.

I haven’t spoken to anyone in my (Kolkata) team yet as I have had plenty of cricket to focus on here in the Caribbean but when we get nearer the time I’m sure I will speak to some of the guys there.

One of the most exciting aspects to the IPL for me will be playing in the same team as the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting. These are all world-class players and it’s great to be part of. I would hope we can all learn off one another.      

I have already had one taste of major Twenty20 cricket this year after leading Jamaica to the final of the Stanford 20/20. It was a good effort for us to reach the final as we did not even make the semi-finals in 2006. Unfortunately we were not able to beat Trinidad & Tobago but credit to them, they played the better cricket. We had a very intense semi-final against Guyana (when Jamaica won by 1 run) and who knows how much that took out of us.

I think this year’s tournament was even better than the one in 2006. We have to be grateful to what Mr Stanford is doing for cricket in the region. The best thing about the Stanford 20/20 is that we get to see talent in other areas of the region that we have not been able to see previously. It’s exciting to know that there are more good players around the Caribbean, outside of the regular islands.

People have suggested that Twenty20 is perfect for me and I suppose it is because it’s all about entertainment. It’s a short and fast game and though it might look easy, it’s a lot more intense than the longer forms of the game and it does take plenty out of you still. I do enjoy it, though, as I like to have fun on the cricket field.

Currently, we have the Carib Beer Series going on and Jamaica is in a strong position at the top of the table so hopefully we will hold on to that and win the tournament. It would be a nice way to go into the Sri Lanka series, followed by another tough home series against Australia.

Sri Lanka are up first and they have a lot of good players so this will be a challenging and interesting series for us. We have to be ready for them because they will punish us if we do not play our best cricket as we did in South Africa at times. They obviously have the world’s number one bowler in their ranks with Murali, but most of our guys have seen him before now and it’s important we believe in ourselves and play to our potential.