The Caribbean Premier League rose from a Twenty20 scene wrecked by a fraud arrest
West Indies Twenty20 cricket was first organised by a financier, Allen Stanford, whose tournament collapsed when he was arrested for fraud in 2009. The league that eventually replaced it plays in an unusual touring pattern, with each team cramming all its home games into a single week before the circus moves to another island.
Organised domestic Twenty20 arrived in the region in 2006 with the privately run Stanford 20/20. Its second edition, in 2008, sat on the official calendar of the West Indies Cricket Board, but the event died after Stanford was charged in June 2009. The board filled the gap with its own Caribbean Twenty20, timed so its winner could represent the region at the 2010 Champions League Twenty20.
In September 2012 the board said it was deep in talks with an investor over a commercial league. That December it announced a funding deal with Ajmal Khan, founder of the Barbados merchant bank Verus International, which also promised money for extra player retainer contracts. The first season ran from 29 July to 26 August 2013, and the Jamaica Tallawahs beat the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final. The mobile network Digicel signed on as the first global sponsor, and the title rights have since passed from Limacol to Hero and, from 2023, to Republic Bank.
The format is distinctive. Seven stadiums each serve as a home ground, and matches run at two venues at a time: the local side plays five games there while visitors play two, then the tournament shifts elsewhere. After ten group games per team, an eliminator, two qualifiers and a final are held at one venue. Squads have fifteen players, no more than five from overseas and four under 23.
The league grew from six teams to seven in 2026, when the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons beat the Jamaica Kingsmen for their first title. Trinbago Knight Riders remain the most successful side with five championships. Since 2022 organisers have also run The 6ixty, a ten-over game in which a side is all out after losing six wickets and can earn an extra powerplay over by hitting two sixes early.
Source: Caribbean Premier League
