The 2023 Caribbean Premier League is just around the corner and our men at Saint Lucia Kings are raring to go again. After falling agonisingly short on the road to the 2022 CPL finals, where they lost to eventual champions Jamaica Tallawahs in the playoffs, these players are ready to fix their mistakes from last season.
Our team will kick start things in the inaugural match of the 2023 CPL where they face defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs. This match will also give us the chance to get one back over our rivals after last season’s heartbreak against them.
We had some star players who truly delivered and did their best to get the team over the line time and again. This time is no different and with new challenges on our way, the boys cannot wait to get back in action.
Here are some of the players that you need to watch out for this season.
Faf du Plessis
After a 2022 season to remember with us, Faf du Plessis will hope he can continue his free-flowing scoring of runs. The former South Africa captain was the fourth-highest run-scorer in last season’s tournament with 332 runs.
The 39-year-old averaged 41.50 (the 5th best in the league) in the 10 matches that he played for us. The athletic fielder from Pretoria was also one of only three players to score a century in the 2022 edition of the CPL.
Moreover, the South African batter smashed the most sixes in the tournament last year (23), while also being the player who scored the fourth most 4’s in the league (24). Any success we have this season will be heavily dependent on how our skipper leads from the front.
Alzarri Joseph
The leading wicket-taker from the 2022 CPL edition, Alzarri Joseph was one of our standout performers last season and his 18 wickets in 11 matches proved just that.
While it wasn’t enough to carry us through the finals of the tournament, his credentials as one of the best Caribbean bowlers were cemented. An economy rate of 6.75 is a rare achievement in T20 cricket and having such a bowler in our ranks helped us pick wickets at regular intervals.
He was one of only five bowlers to take four wickets in an innings last season, with his best figures being an incredible 4/17 in four overs. Joseph’s wickets will once again be key in a bid of winning our first-ever Caribbean Premier League trophy.
Matthew Forde
The young up-and-coming all-rounder who idolises Andre Russell, Matthew Forde is a surprise inclusion in our list of players to watch out for this season after his exploits in other T20 leagues around the globe.
The tall all-rounder can smash long sixes at will just like Russell and can also hit the deck hard with the ball. Our talented all-rounder also shares the same birthday as the former West Indies T20 captain.
Forde only played seven games for us last season but big things are expected of him in the 2023 edition. If he can unlock his true potential, we have a true maverick on our hands.
Johnson Charles
Our leading run-scorer from last year’s edition. Born in Saint Lucia, Johnson Charles was in fine form in the 2022 CPL edition, with his 345 runs nearly helping us all the way to the finals.
Our wicket-keeper batter played only 9 of our 11 games and still managed to be the third-highest run-getter in the league in our last campaign. Charles averaged an impressive 43.12, the fourth-best batting average in the league behind the likes of David Miller, Jason Holder, and Quinton de Kock.
Our wicketkeeper was in fine form last season where he also ended up scoring the most 50s (4) in the tournament. Charles also smashed the fifth most sixes and third most boundaries (19 and 28 respectively). Such was his form that we will be heavily relying on his performances this season as well in a bid to win our first CPL title.
