The highly anticipated 2023 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season is poised to kick off on Wednesday in St Lucia with a solitary match scheduled for the day. The tournament’s inaugural fixture will showcase a face-off between St Lucia Kings and the reigning champions, Jamaica Tallawahs, in a riveting 6:00 pm clash.
The tournament will also visit St Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.
The final will take place on September 24 at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
As the countdown to the commencement of the opening fixture continues, Loop Sports unveils its concluding array of player profiles for the Tallawahs.
Mohammed Amir
The former Pakistan bowler retired from international cricket in 2020 at age 28.
He is a left-arm fast bowler and a left-handed batsman who made his first-class debut in November 2008. He made his first One-Day International and Test appearances in July 2009 in Sri Lanka when he was only 17 years old.
Amir played his first international match during the 2009 ICC World T20, helping Pakistan win the tournament. In 2017 Amir helped Pakistan win the ICC Champions Trophy in England.
He has played for a long list of teams in particular in the T20 format of the game. These include Jamaica Tallawahs, Barbados Royals, Chittagong Vikings, and Karachi Kings.
Joshua James
At just 22 years old, the Trinidad and Tobago-born James is one of the youngest members of the Jamaica Tallawahs T20 squad.
He has limited experience, having made his T20 debut for the Tallawahs versus St Kitts & Nevis Patriots at Basseterre in September 2021.
James last played for the Tallawahs in September 2022 versus the Barbados Royals at Gros Islet. He is a right-arm medium pacer whose playing role in the Tallawahs squad is that of a bowler. James bats right-handed.
Kirk McKenzie
Another of the young members of the Jamaica Tallawahs squad is Kirk McKenzie; he’s just 22 years old.
One of the more promising and exciting cricketers to emerge in the West Indies in recent times, McKenzie is an attacking top-order batsman who bats with the left hand and bowls off-breaks with the right.
McKenzie made his Test debut for the West Indies in July 2023, scoring 32 and zero in two innings. He made the Test team on the back of a brilliant double hundred in April for the West Indies Emerging Academy versus the Weekes X1 in the Headley Weekes Championship match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. He made 229.
In August 2021, McKenzie was named in the Tallawahs squad for the 2021 Caribbean Premier League. He made his T20 debut on September 5, 2021. Before his Twenty20 debut, he was part of the West Indies squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
McKenzie made his first-class debut on June 1, 2022 for Jamaica in the 2021-22 West Indies Championship.
Nicholson Gordon
Nicholson Anthony Gordon is a Jamaican cricketer who made his debut for the Jamaican national side in the 2015-16 Regional Super50 tournament against ICC Americas.
The 31-year-old Westmoreland native is a right-arm fast bowler. He made his List A debut in October 2009, playing a single match for the West Indies Under-19s in the 2009–10 WICB President’s Cup
The following year, Gordon represented the team at the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. He appeared in four matches for the Windies but failed to take a wicket at the tournament.
Gordon made his T20 debut on August 31, 2022 for the Tallawahs in the CPL. His primary role in the current squad is as a bowler.
Alex Hales
At 34 years old the England opening batsman is one of the most experienced cricketers in the Tallawahs squad.
The right-handed batsman plays for Nottinghamshire and has represented the English Cricket Team across all formats. Hales has played for Melbourne Renegades, Adelaide Strikers, Hobart Hurricanes, Sydney Thunder, Barbados Tridents, Jamaica Tallawahs, Mumbai Indians, and Sunrisers Hyderabad among others.
He played a central role in England’s T20 World Cup win in 2022.
At 6ft 5in, Hales was always a destructive player who thrived against fast bowling and was considered part of a brazen new breed of England batters when he made his international debut in 2011.
The Tallawahs will be counting on his experience to retain the title, especially after losing their captain, Rovman Powell, who was traded to the Barbados Royals.
Steven Taylor
Taylor born and raised in south Florida to Jamaican immigrants, is one among a few Americans to carve out a place for himself in T20 franchise cricket, securing a CPL contract in 2015 with Barbados Tridents, where he has developed under former USA coach Robin Singh. After one more season with Tridents, he became the highest-paid franchise cricketer in U.S. history when the Guyana Amazon Warriors paid $30,000 for him at the 2017 CPL draft.
He only managed two games though, and took a large pay cut to move to Jamaica Tallawahs for 2018.
Originally a wicketkeeper-batsman, Taylor gave up the gloves in 2015 to keep his body fresh for batting but it has also allowed him to develop his skills as a useful part-time offspinner.
He is a tall and powerfully built opening batsman who loves hitting boundaries, particularly in the arc between square leg and cover. His importance to the team cannot be understated, with his ability to score big hundreds at more than a run-a-ball, effectively taking the game away from the opposition.
He played 47 T20 matches and scored 1168 runs in 43 innings. His highest score in T20 is 101 not out.
He took 7 wickets in 14 T20 innings with a strike rate of 29.10 and an average of 29.00.
In T20 international, Taylor played 19 matches for the USA and scored 568 runs, and claimed 7 wickets.
Raymon Reifer
The fourth first-class cricketer from a family that includes former Test captain, Floyd Reifer, Raymond Reifer has made his name for his all-round abilities.
A left-arm seamer who can score useful runs down the order, Reifer’s mid-20s averages with both bat and ball reflect his consistency in first-class cricket. He played a major role in Guyana’s run to the 2016-17 four-day title, with 36 wickets at 21.58 and 445 runs at 37.08, which earned him a maiden call-up to the West Indies Test side ahead of their 2017 tour of England.
In T20 cricket, he played 73 matches and scored 919 runs in 61 innings. His highest score in T20 is 65 not out.
He took 57 wickets in 53 T20 innings with a strike rate of 14.50 and an average of 21.12.
Reifer only played three T20 international games.
Amir Jangoo
Amir Jangoo is a hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman from Trinidad. Born on the island, Jangoo rose through the ranks of grade cricket and fought his way into the Trinidad first-class side. He earned himself a Red Force contract on the sheer weight of first-class performances alone.
He made his first-class debut for Trinidad and Tobago in the 2016–17 Regional Four-Day Competition.
In T20 cricket, he played 9 matches and scored 118 runs in 8 innings. His highest score in T20 is 30.
Shamar Springer
Shamar Springer is a Barbadian cricketer. He was part of the West Indies team that won the Under-19 World Cup in 2016.
A middle-order batsman and a nagging seam bowler, Springer performed both roles excellently in the semi-final of the tournament, which also spoke of his big-match temperament. The 62 off 88 balls he made in the case of 227 against the hosts Bangladesh was also a sign that he wasn’t simply a “ball beater,” though that side of his game had been apparent against Fiji when he made a 74-ball century.
His ‘chest roll’ dance move after the West Indies team won the Under-19 World Cup was one of the highlights of the tournament. He also managed to debut at the first-class level in 2017.
He finished among the top five batsmen in that tournament with 285 runs at an average of 57.
He came through the Barbados age-group system, playing for their Under-17 and Under-19 sides, and was also picked up by the local CPL franchise Tridents for the 2016 edition.
In T20 cricket, he played 16 matches and scored 145 runs in 15 innings. His highest score in T20 is 30.
He took 11 wickets in 13 T20 innings with a strike rate of 18.00 and an average of 27.90.
Chris Green
Born in South Africa but raised in Australia, Chris Green is a tall offspinner who has made his name bowling in the powerplay in T20 cricket.
Navigating a trajectory that saw him pivot from a promising junior tennis career to firmly choosing cricket as his vocation, Green secured his initial extended tenure with the Sydney Thunder during their triumphant 2015-16 Big Bash campaign. Swiftly, he ascended to the echelons of the competition’s most dependable ball wielders, notably within the powerplay overs.
The seminal breakthrough season of 2015-16 in the Big Bash League (BBL) catapulted Green into the spotlight, a juncture where he firmly established his credentials as a venerated T20 exponent. Demonstrating utility as a competent lower-order batsman and a fielder of superlative caliber, his contributions found greater traction within the realm of short-form cricket.
Amid his spirited trajectory, the Kolkata Knight Riders secured his services in the IPL auction of late 2019, initiating a phase of global perambulation across franchise cricket circuits. Simultaneously, Green inked a groundbreaking six-year contract with the Sydney Thunder, affirming his steadfast allegiance to the franchise.
However, Green confronted a momentous setback in early 2020 as he found himself entangled in a suspension due to a questionable bowling action. Scrutiny zeroed in on his off-break and quicker delivery, prompting an extended hiatus from his primary role. Following an ardent process of evaluation in Brisbane, he ultimately emerged vindicated, the cloud of suspicion dissipating as he was granted clearance six months later.
In T20 cricket he took 144 wickets in 177 innings with a strike rate of 24.20 and an average of 28.30.
He scored 1096 runs in T20 from 113 innings. His highest score in T20 is 50.
Imad Wasim
Imad Wasim, originally poised to pursue a medical career, experienced a pivotal turning point when the offer to represent Pakistan’s Under-19 cricket team emerged, leading to a fateful alteration of his life course.
Like many aspiring players from his country, he wanted to emulate Wasim Akram but he didn’t have the pace his coaches were looking for. Still, the switch to left-arm spin has worked for him. A capable middle-order batsman as well, he was part of the Pakistan side that won the Youth World Cup in 2006, before captaining them in the next edition.
The watershed moment in his career arrived in 2015 when the Pakistan senior team faced the task of replacing the suspended Saeed Ajmal. Imad Wasim was granted his opportunity on the international stage after a period of honing his skills through participation in English and Irish league cricket—an experience he attributed to his developmental strides. Moreover, his ascendancy was enriched by his engagements in first-class cricket. An auspicious debut for Islamabad in 2007 saw him notch a half-century, followed by an impressive eight-wicket haul in 2013, and a remarkable maiden double-century in 2014.
Imad Wasim’s initiation into T20I cricket coincided with Pakistan’s resumption of home matches after the 2009 Lahore incident. His presence in the subsequent 2016 World T20 proved impactful, as he secured the distinction of becoming the first Pakistani to secure a five-wicket haul in a T20I fixture against West Indies in Dubai.
During the historic 2017 Champions Trophy campaign, where Pakistan defied the odds to clinch victory, Imad Wasim’s contribution was pivotal. He showcased his mettle by contributing valuable performances with both bat and ball. His accomplishments extended to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where his contributions to the Jamaica Tallahwahs drew acclaim. The year reached a zenith when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) bestowed upon him the prestigious T20 Player of the Year award.
In the realm of T20 cricket, Imad Wasim emerged as a formidable force, claiming an impressive tally of 276 wickets in 299 innings at a striking strike rate of 22.70, coupled with a commendable average of 24.69. His adept batting skills manifested in his accumulation of 3219 runs from 232 innings, reaching a zenith with an unbeaten 92.
In the realm of T20 internationals, Imad Wasim maintained his remarkable track record, securing 65 wickets in 65 innings at a strike rate of 20.80 and an average of 21.78. Not to be overshadowed, his batting contributions in T20 internationals were laudable, with a tally of 486 runs. His personal best of an unbeaten 64 further underscored his prowess on the international stage.
