Powell, Russell and Allen selected by Kingsmen in CPL draft

KINGSTON, Ja­maica – The Ja­maica Kings­men have se­lect­ed Rov­man Pow­ell, An­dre Rus­sell and Fabi­an Allen to rep­re­sent them in this year’s Caribbean Pre­mier League (CPL).

Ac­cord­ing to a re­port from The Ob­serv­er, while an of­fi­cial an­nounce­ment has not yet been made, Rus­sell and Pow­ell, who are cur­rent­ly with the Kolkata Knight Rid­ers in the In­di­an Pre­mier League, were the first two picks by new own­ers Kings­men Sports En­ter­prise in the draft.

Pow­ell de­parts the Bar­ba­dos Roy­als to re­join the Ja­maican fran­chise as cap­tain af­ter leav­ing in 2023, hav­ing won two ti­tles, while Rus­sell, who won ti­tles with the Ja­maica Tallawahs in 2013 and 2016 dur­ing an eight-year stint, joins from de­fend­ing cham­pi­ons Trin­ba­go Knight Rid­ers.

As the CPL’s newest fran­chise, the Kings­men were giv­en spe­cial priv­i­leges that al­lowed them to draft Ja­maican play­ers as the first three picks. How­ev­er, it was lim­it­ed to one play­er per fran­chise and free from the right-to-match op­tion, paving the way for the se­lec­tions of Rus­sell and Pow­ell.

Ac­cord­ing to the Ob­serv­er, all-rounder Allen was the third pick, with the Kings­men un­able to se­lect open­ing bats­man Bran­don King among their three un­re­strict­ed picks. King’s stint with the Roy­als last sea­son meant the fran­chise could on­ly choose ei­ther Pow­ell or King.

The Kings­men’s full 17-mem­ber squad will have nine se­nior West In­di­an play­ers, five over­seas play­ers and three play­ers from the West In­dies Break­out League last year.

The Ja­maica Kings­men, who open the CPL sea­son on Au­gust 7 against the An­tigua and Bar­bu­da Fal­cons in St Vin­cent, will play four games at Sabi­na Park in Kingston from Au­gust 11 to 18.

CMC