2019 Hero CPL Player Draft set for May 22

The players’ draft of the Hero Caribbean Premier League will take place on Wednesday, 22nd May 2019 at the Gfinity eSports Arena in London. The state-of-the-art production facility will allow CPL fans from around the globe to follow the action, which will be hosted by a world-class panel of pundits. Full details of where the draft will be broadcast will be confirmed nearer the date of the event.
Each of the teams will have the option to retain a maximum of six players. These are the players that they can potentially retain, although there is no obligation to retain any players from the 2018 squads. A franchise is allowed three (3) West Indian players, one (1) overseas player, the team’s marquee player from 2018, and the team’s ICC Americas Player from 2018.

CPL three-time champions, Trinbago Knight Riders

Besides the maximum six retentions, teams are also allowed one “Right to Match” option in rounds 7 to 17. This means that if a team selects a player who is a national from another team’s franchise territory, that team can match the offer and draft the player ahead of the team that selected that player originally.
The ‘marquee players’ may be signed before the draft, and will sit in the second spot on the draft list. In the past, players who were selected in this spot included Chris Lynn, Kieron Pollard, Shoaib Malik, Evin Lewis, AB de Villiers and Steve Smith.
Each team can draft a maximum of five overseas players, but only four of these players will be allowed in each starting XI. The ICC Americas player does not count in this overseas category.
Speaking about the upcoming draft, Michael Hall, CPL’s Tournament Operations Director, said: “This year’s player draft promises to be even better than previous editions. We made the decision to stage the draft 2 months later than usual to ensure that all of our franchises have a clearer picture about the international commitments of the overseas players they may be eyeing up. We want to make sure that we provide teams and the fans with the best possible playing talent.”

A NOTE, ON THE HERO CPL
First started in 2013, the Hero CPL (CPL) is a franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival atmosphere.
Combining broadcast and digital viewership, over 200 million fans watched the 2018 season to make it one of the fastest growing leagues in world cricket.
Trinbago Knight Riders are the current Hero CPL champions, and the other competing teams are Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St. Lucia Stars and Jamaica Tallawahs.