Cricket is one of the world’s most watched, most loved and most played sports, with a huge following in South Asia, Africa, Europe, Australasia and, of course, right here in the Caribbean.

And the people behind one of the sport’s most dynamic and successful leagues, also right here in the Caribbean, are hoping to make cricket a major attraction in two parts of the world where it’s had only a marginal impact: the United States and Canada.

If the HERO Caribbean Premier League does establish world-class cricket as a popular sport in those potentially big markets, it’ll be with considerable help from St. Kitts and Nevis, who have twice hosted the globally televised playoffs and finals of the ambitious young league in its first four seasons.

And our CPL franchise, the Patriots, could be playing against teams from New York and Toronto, the North American cities the league is eyeing for expansion.

In the 2016 tournament, the six-team CPL took ‘the biggest party in sport’ into the American market for the first time with six fixtures in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, showcasing many of the cricket superstars – among them the Caribbean’s Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree – who have been drawing crowds all over the world to Twenty20 cricket as the shortest version of the game continues to surge in popularity.

The six Florida fixtures – two of them featuring the Patriots – were a big success, and Damien O’Donohoe, the CPL’s chief executive, has confirmed the league’s interest in adding franchises in New York and who were flying down. So I think New York and Toronto would be our No. 1 and 2 choices.

“I think it’s for cricket collectively to look at what football has done and the plans that they’ve had – like hosting a World Cup in the States in1994.”

Darren Sammy, who captained the West Indies to ICC World Twenty20 triumphs in 2016 and 2012, is also enthusiastic about taking big-league cricket to new markets. “ There are lots of people of Caribbean descent who have never had the opportunity to see their team play,” said the popular St. Lucian all-rounder.

And while the Patriots’ legions of fans were disappointed that their team failed to make the 2016 playoffs, hosting those fixtures, along with the final, was a big boost for the St. Kitts and Nevis economy, and also a major vehicle for international exposure: the games were watched on television by an estimated 120 million people around the world.

What is it that has made the CPL such a runaway success? League executives say it’s the mix of world – class players and the Caribbean’s party-loving fans, who have ensured that the action in the stands is every bit as entertaining as the Twenty20 fireworks on the field.

“Cricket is something that people in the Caribbean are genuinely passionate about, and they’re also passionate about partying,” says O’Donohoe. “So when we were planning the CPL we said why don’t we put the two of them together and make it something really special and reinvigorate cricket in the region, because at that time we really felt that the game was in a slump.”

And that’s exactly what they did. West Indian cricket fans haven’t had so much to cheer about for decades, and have thrown their support enthusiastically behind the CPL, with its non-stop action and user friendly time constraints – an average game lasts about three and a half hours.

Twenty20 cricket at the first-class level made its debut in England in 2003, and it soon became apparent that it could have been invented specifically for the Caribbean region with its swashbuckling players and exuberant fans – witness the joyful scenes at St. Kitts’ Warner Park this August. Click here for St. Kitts Patriots’ schedule and ticket information. 

“Cricket is something that people in the Caribbean are genuinely passionate about”