Barbados Royals, acquired by the owners of Indian Premier League side Rajasthan Royals, had retained eight players ahead of the 2023 CPL draft, which was held on June 30. These included star West Indian all-rounders all-roundersJason Holder, Kyle Mayers, and Rahkeem Cornwall and left-arm quick Obed McCoy, along with Ramon Simmonds, Nyeem Young, Joshua Bishop and Justin Greaves.

Barbados had earlier traded in Rovman Powell from the Jamaica Tallawahs. Powell had led the Tallawahs to the final last year, where they beat the Royals to win the title. In exchange of Powell, Royals let Hayden Walsh Jr to go to the Tallawahs. They also released traded fast bowler to the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.

The Royals had also made four overseas signings ahead of the draft. These included the South African duo of Rassie van der Dussen and Donovan Ferreira; Roelof van der Merwe, formerly of South Africa, now of the Netherlands; and Maheesh Theekshana of Sri Lanka.

At the draft, the Royals signed up two recent West Indies ODI debutants – top-order batter Alick Athanaze, who smashed the joint-fastest ODI fifty on debut, and seamer Akeem Jordan. Under-19 batter Kevin Wickham and wicketkeeper Rivaldo Clarke also got deals with the Royals.

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Led by David Miller, Barbados had finished on top of the points table in 2022, with 16 points – five more than second-placed Guyana Amazon Warriors.

CPL 2023, Barbados Royals squad: Full team list

Retained: Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Bishop, Justine Greaves, Nyeem Young, Ramon Simmonds

Traded in: Rovman Powell (from Jamaica Tallawahs)

Overseas players signed: Rassie van der Dussen, Roelof van der Merwe, Maheesh Theekshana, Donovan Ferreira

Players picked in the draft: Alick Athanaze, Kevin Wickham, Akeem Jordan, Rivaldo Clarke