The top team in last year’s Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) regular season began their new campaign without two key players. Because of a congested international franchise calendar, Tim Seifert and Noor Ahmad won’t rejoin Saint Lucia Kings until their fifth game.
The Kings won their first game but lost the second on Wednesday night at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground. They will play Antigua & Barbuda Falcons at DSCG on Friday night and Barbados Tridents on Sunday.
Sunday is also when the English franchise tournament, The Hundred, will end. Seifert and Ahmad have played important roles for the Manchester Super Giants, who are in the playoffs this weekend.
Seifert, a dynamic wicketkeeper-batter from New Zealand, was the league’s fourth-highest scorer last year with 396 runs in 12 matches. He contributed over 20% of the Kings’ runs as they finished with the best regular season record.
Ahmad did not play for the Kings in 2025, but his role was crucial in 2024, when the franchise won their maiden CPL title. Just 19 years old at the time, the gifted left-arm wrist-spinner from Afghanistan took a league-leading 22 wickets with a 6.19 economy rate.
Kings got a fine half-century from Andries Gous in their opening win last Sunday, filling in for Seifert. Jewel Andrew and Kamil Pooran also hit fifties on Wednesday. Sri Lankan mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana will later join Ahmad and Kings’ captain Roston Chase in a strong spin attack. But for now, those players must fill expanded roles, thanks to the absence of Seifert and Ahmad.
The duo might be back for next Wednesday’s tilt against the Guyana Amazon Warriors at DSCG, and should be available for the rest of the season.
Three other CPL units could get players back from The Hundred next week. Defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders have Nicholas Pooran with MI London, and Jamaica Kingsmen have Rovman Powell with Trent Rockets.
(TF)
