By SIRISH RAGHAVAN From espncricinfo

As the CPL’s fourth season gets underway, ESPNcricinfo presents a handy primer on the teams involved and the players to watch out for

Trinbago Knight Riders

How they did last season: Champions. Finished third after the league stage, with five wins, four losses and a no-result

Leadership: Captain – Dwayne Bravo, Coach – Simon Helmot

Squad: Dwayne Bravo, Hashim Amla (overseas), Ronsford Beaton, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Yannic Cariah, Kevon Cooper, Anton Devcich (overseas), Hamza Tariq (overseas), Brendon McCullum (overseas), Nikita Miller, Colin Munro (overseas), Sunil Narine, William Perkins, Anderson Phillip, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Javon Searles, Umar Akmal (overseas)

Watch out for: Though he may be the least-known of Knight Riders’ three New Zealand imports, Anton Devcich will be one to keep an eye on – and not just for his impressive beard. The Northern Districts allrounder enjoyed a very successful George Pie Super Smash last year, taking nine wickets and scoring 336 runs in his nine matches.

Barbados Tridents
How they did last season: Runners-up. Finished top of the table after the league stage, with six wins and four losses

Leadership: Captain – Kieron Pollard, Coach – Robin Singh

Squad: Kieron Pollard, Kyle Corbin, AB de Villiers (overseas), Jason Holder, Kyle Hope, Akeal Hosein, Imran Khan, Ashley Nurse, Wayne Parnell (overseas), Robin Peterson (overseas), Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Rampaul, Raymon Reifer, Shoaib Malik (overseas), Shamar Springer, Navin Stewart, Steven Taylor (overseas), David Wiese (overseas)

Watch out for: Shamar Springer showed his all-round talent and big-match temperament in West Indies’ Under-19 World Cup triumph in Bangladesh this year. He also showed his Caribbean flair, unveiling the chest-roll celebration that was swiftly dubbed the “Springer-roll”. This will be the world’s first look at the 18-year-old Barbadian since his heroics in Dhaka. It will also be his first competitive cricket since his father passed away this month. “I just want to do well for my Dad,” he said.
Guyana Amazon Warriors
How they did last season: Third. Finished second after the league stage, with five wins, four losses and a no-result. Lost the second semi-final.

Leadership: Captain – Martin Guptill, Coach – Roger Harper

Squad: Martin Guptill (overseas), Ali Khan (overseas), Chris Barnwell, Devendra Bishoo, Anthony Bramble, Rayad Emrit, Assad Fudadin, Shimron Hetmyer, Steven Jacobs, Steven Katwaroo, Chris Lynn (overseas), Jason Mohammed, Veerasammy Permaul, Orlando Peters, Dwayne Smith, Sohail Tanvir (overseas), Paul Wintz, Adam Zampa (overseas)

Watch out for: Another star of West Indies Under-19’s World Cup campaign was their captain, Shimron Hetmyer. “He did things a little differently, he was very positive. In terms of passion and enthusiasm, you can’t fault him,” coach Graeme West said when explaining the decision to make Hetmyer captain. Hetmyer has also shown his talent with the bat, notching up his maiden first-class century for Guyana this March. He will now hope to carry his good form into his maiden CPL season.

Jamaica Tallawahs
How they did last season: Finished fourth after the league stage, with four wins, five losses and a no-result. Lost semi-final 1

Leadership: Captain – Chris Gayle, Coach – Paul Nixon

Squad: Chris Gayle, Timroy Allen (overseas), Nkrumah Bonner, Jonathan Foo, Imad Wasim (overseas), Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Andre McCarthy, Garey Mathurin, Rovman Powell, Alex Ross (overseas), Andre Russell, Kumar Sangakkara (overseas), Shakib Al Hasan (overseas), Dale Steyn (overseas), Oshane Thomas, Chadwick Walton, Kesrick Williams

Watch out for: If you have won the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year award – as Alex Ross did this January – you must be doing something right. After an impressive debut season in 2014-15, Ross followed with 642 runs this Sheffield Shield season, second only to Travis Head in South Australia’s run list. He has also done well in the Big Bash League, earning the nickname “Sweepologist” thanks to his fondness for the sweep shot. What can the Sweepologist conjure up in the Caribbean?

St Lucia Zouks
How they did last season: Finished fifth after the league stage, with four wins, five losses and a no-result.

Leadership: Captain – Darren Sammy, Coach – Stuart Williams

Squad: Darren Sammy, Johnson Charles, Miguel Cummins, Derone Davis, Andre Fletcher, Michael Hussey (overseas), Delorn Johnson, Nitish Kumar (overseas), Eddie Leie (overseas), Keddy Lesporis, Kyle Mayers, David Miller (overseas), Morne Morkel (overseas), Gidron Pope, Denesh Ramdin, Kristopher Ramsaran, Shane Shillingford, Shane Watson (overseas)

Watch out for: One of four Canadians and six associate players participating in this edition of the CPL, Nitish Kumar comes in with a reputation of being his country’s batting mainstay. His nickname – Tendulkar – perhaps provides an insight into the regard with which he is viewed by his peers. Still only 22, Nitish has been around for years – in August 2009, he became the youngest player to represent Canada in a first-class match and a few months later he became the second youngest ODI debutant. Since then, his returns have been middling, though, so he would want to make an impression on this stage.

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots
How they did last season: Brought up the rear, at sixth place in the league table, with four wins and six losses

Leadership: Captain – Faf du Plessis, Coach – Eric Simons

Squad: Faf du Plessis (overseas), Samuel Badree, Tino Best, Carlos Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, Jonathan Carter, Nikhil Dutta (overseas), Brad Hodge (overseas), Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jeremiah Louis, Thisara Perera (overseas), Kieran Powell, Krishmar Santokie, Tabraiz Shamsi (overseas), Lendl Simmons, JJ Smuts (overseas), Devon Thomas

Watch out for: “Always be watchful of the batters. That’s my main thing.” That simple philosophy, allied with a useful arsenal of slower balls and yorkers, has enabled Krishmar Santokie to emerge as a handy left-arm pacer inT20 leagues around the world. It has also helped him to quietly rise to become the leading wicket-taker across the first three editions of the CPL. If he carries on at this rate, it is the batsmen who will need to be watchful.

Key facts
Number of teams: 6
Number of matches: 34
Number of overseas players per squad: Up to 6
Format: A league stage, in which each team plays each other team twice, followed by a playoff stage. Playoff 1 features the top two teams on the league table, Playoff 2 features the third- and fourth-placed teams, and Playoff 3 features the loser of Playoff 1 and the winner of Playoff 2. The final is contested between the winners of Playoff 1 and Playoff 3.
Previous winners: Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel (2015), Barbados Tridents (2014), Jamaica Tallawahs (2013)

Sirish Raghavan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

IMAGES:

Five big names from each CPL 2016 squad © ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Shimron Hetmyer led West Indies to their first Under-19 World Cup win in February © International Cricket Council

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