CPL players to watch: Left-arm wristspinners, T20 hitters, allrounders and more

Aug 07, 2026 Sports

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Cricinfo – The 14th edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will kick-off on August 7 and will be played in eight nations this year, with fixtures in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago. Here are some bright young talents to watch out for from each franchise.

Vitel Lawes (Jamaica Kingsmen)

A left-arm wristspinner is an especially rare breed in the Caribbean so much so that only two such West Indian bowlers have played in the CPL – Dave Mohammed and Kristopher Ramsaran – before Lawes. After being fast-tracked into the West Indies ODI team last month, despite not playing any form of senior cricket at the time, 19-year-old Lawes is now set for his CPL bow.

While Lawes missed his lengths and erred short at some points, he displayed his unique ability to turn the ball both ways and turn it big during the home ODI series against New Zealand and then during his Global Super League (GSL) stint with Desert Vipers, the ILT20 champions, as a replacement player. ICYMI: go and watch his dismissal of Mark Chapman with a ripper that pitched on leg and ragged away past off to have the batter stumped on international debut at Providence. Lawes’ left-arm wristspin could provide Kingsmen’s attack a potent point of difference.

Zachary Carter (Barbados Tridents)

Like Lawes, Carter got a taste of top-flight T20 cricket in the Caribbean, before the CPL, with a GSL stint at Vipers. A tall and powerful left-hand opening batter, Carter crashed Pakistani left-arm seamer Ghulam Mudassar, who was playing for San Francisco Unicorns in the GSL, for a six and four fours in a powerplay over. Carter also showed his power during his century against South Africa in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year in Windhoek. Can he now make the step up in the CPL?

Quentin Sampson (Guyana Amazon Warriors)

A wildcard pick in West Indies’ T20 World Cup squad, Quentin Sampson returns to the CPL after gaining international experience and exposure. Between CPL 2025 and 2026, he also had stints in the Abu Dhabi T10 league and the GSL. The 26-year-old batter has certainly come a long way from playing softball cricket in Caria Caria village, which is located on the shore of Essequibo River and isn’t too far away from Saxacalli, Keemo Paul’s village.

In CPL 2025, he had a strike rate of 151.57 across nine innings. When he was elevated to West Indies’ World Cup squad, captain Shai Hope delivered a glowing appraisal of Sampson’s clean ball-striking. Sampson will look to stave off sophomore syndrome in CPL 2026.

Navin Bidaisee (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots)

A legspinner who can also pitch in with the bat, Bidaisee is another rare commodity in Caribbean cricket. After impressing in the Breakout league, Bidaisee made his CPL debut for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots last season, showing sparks of promise – with both ball and bat. After playing a solitary CPL season, he was fast-tracked into West Indies’ T20I side and even earned an ILT20 gig with Dubai Capitals. More recently, Bidaisee trained at former India bowling coach B Arun’s academy in Chennai, in the lead-up to CPL 2026.

Ackeem Auguste (St Lucia Kings)

A sleek left-hand batter who can slot in at the top as well as in the middle, Auguste won the CPL with Kings as an emerging player in 2024. In 2025, he became a regular for the franchise, scoring 229 runs in ten innings at a strike rate of over 160.

He is only 22 and has overseas exposure, having been part of MI Emirates in the ILT20 and trained against mystery spinners at the Chennai Super Kings Academy in Chennai. He has also had international success, most notably hitting a 24-ball fifty against Bangladesh in a T20I on a challenging Chattogram pitch last year.

Amshi de Silva (Trinbago Knight Riders)

Born in Galle, de Silva had success playing for Richmond College, and also represented Sri Lanka’s Under-19 and A teams before moving to the USA in 2023-24. Part of the Under-19 batch that produced Dilshan Madushanka and Matheesha Pathirana, de Silva had to wait until 2026 to make his MLC debut. After being a net bowler for a number of MLC franchises, the 24-year-old pace-bowling allrounder broke into Texas Super Kings’ team and emerged as the breakout player of the most recent season with 13 wickets.

Apart from fronting up to bowl with the new ball in the powerplay and older one at the death, de Silva is an exceptional fielder and can also contribute in with the bat down the order. Dwayne Bravo, who had a ringside view to those three-dimensional skills when he was in charge of LAKR, has now brought de Silva into the TKR side.

Sufyan Moqim (Antigua & Barbuda Falcons)

Another left-arm wristspinner, Moqim was the Player of the Tournament in Peshawar Zalmi’s run to the PSL title earlier this year. Moqim set the tone with his 4 for 32 against eventual finalists Hyderabad Kingsmen in his second game, before going on a tear and ultimately spinning Zalmi to the title. Moqim, now 24, has since made it to the T20 Blast (Derbyshire) in the UK and GSL (Perth Scorchers). He will be available to Antigua & Barbuda Falcons for only seven games between August 21 and September 20 in his maiden CPL season, but is certainly one of the overseas spinners to watch out for.

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• allrounders, CPL, players to watch, T20 hitters, Vitel Lawes, wristspinners

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