St Lucia Kings hungry for success

St Lucia Kings' quest for a Caribbean Premier League T20 title continues in 2023.

The franchise has been coming close of late, after dismal performances for the majority of the CPL's decade-long existence.

They have reached the final twice (in 2020 and 2021), and were in the playoffs last year.

After knocking on the door for the past three seasons, St Lucia will be keen to build on that momentum.

This year, the team has made some changes to its set up and is optimistic to not only get to the final once more, but to potentially be crowned champions.

The Kings have retained a core group of players for 2023 inclusive of West Indies T20 specialists Johnson Charles, Roston Chase and Alzarri Joseph. Of concern for the Kings would be the form of Charles and Joseph. Both had underwhelming performances for West Indies in their 3-2 T20 series victory over India during their tour of the Caribbean and US.

Charles has struggled with the bat, particularly against spin. Joseph has been an all-formats player for West Indies for the past year but may be suffering from burnout. His skill is unquestioned and he will be expected to regain his pace and control which have made him such a deadly bowler.

Not to be discounted is the all-round capabilities of Barbadian Roshon Primus.

Jeavor Royal, Matthew Forde and McKenny Clarke are also members of the squad.

St Lucia have also secured the services of former TKR spinner Khary Pierre, who was transferred in a swap deal for all-rounder Mark Deyal. The latter was a key contributor to the Kings over the past three years.

Experienced South African Faf du Plessis, 39, has also joined the ranks and with 342 T20 matches under his belt, nothing is expected to faze him. He averages 32.30 with the bat with a highest score of 120 not out.

Additionally, Scotland bowler Chris Sole joins the franchise for the first half of the CPLT20 season. He is the first Scottish player to appear at the CPLT20 and will be with the Kings until Sri Lankan Bhanuka Rajapaksa joins the squad after the first five group matches.

Sole has played 38 international matches for his country, claiming 58 wickets. He was also a good contributor to Scotland’s fine run at the ICC World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

The Kings also signed Zimbabwe international Sean Williams as a replacement for Sri Lankan Dasun Shanaka, who is no longer available for the competition.

Williams also brings depth to the Kings squad having scored more that 7,500 runs in 238 international matches for Zimbabwe. He also serves as another spin bowling option.

St Lucia squad: Johnson Charles, Faf du Plessis, Leonardo Julien, Kimani Melius, Sean Williams, Roston Chase, Khary Pierre, Roshon Primus, Sikanda Raza, McKenny Clarke, Matthew Forde, Peter Hatzoglou, Alzarri Joseph,Jair McAllister, Javor Royal, Chris Sole, Sadrack Descarte.