West Indies Breakout League 2025 Squads Finalised as Draft Unveils Next-Gen Caribbean Talent

St John’s, Antigua – March 21, 2025
The six franchises competing in the inaugural edition of the West Indies Breakout League have finalized their 14-member squads following an intense and talent-packed player draft. With youth development at the core of this exciting T20 competition, the draft showcased the region’s next generation of cricketers, including 15 teenagers set to make their mark on the professional stage.

The tournament, which begins on April 25 and runs through May 10, will be played entirely at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad. It brings together the best emerging talent from across the Caribbean, underlining Cricket West Indies’ commitment to player development and long-term growth of the T20 format in the region.

Youth, Rules, and Vision

Prior to the draft, each team was allowed to retain seven players, with a restriction allowing only three aged between 27 and 29. The rest of the squad was completed via the draft process, with all new selections required to be 26 years old or younger. Another eligibility clause mandated that each player must have played fewer than 40 List A T20 matches and under 10 international T20s, preserving the competition’s identity as a platform for raw, yet promising, talent.

Further cementing the league’s developmental purpose, each franchise was allowed to select two out-of-territory players, encouraging regional exchange and exposure for younger cricketers.

Squads Loaded with Rising Stars

The draft saw several high-potential youngsters earn selection, including Riyad Latiff (17), Micah McKenzie (18), Zishan Motara (18), and Jewel Andrew (18)  all pegged as future stars. These players will share the dressing room with experienced domestic talents like Shamar Springer, Nial Smith, and Keacy Carty, offering them a fast-tracked learning curve.

Franchises like Barbados Pelicans, Jamaica Titans, and Windward Islands Infernos have built squads that blend raw pace, leg-spin talent, and power-hitting aligning with global T20 trends and CPL scouting pipelines.

Notable absentees due to injury include Jeremiah Louis, replaced by Kenneth Pennyfeather in the Leeward Islands Thunder squad.

Fixtures and Focus

The league will feature 17 matches over a two-week span, with all action taking place at the state-of-the-art Brian Lara Cricket Academy. The venue, named after one of cricket’s all-time greats, will be the perfect setting to showcase future Caribbean stars looking to break into Caribbean Premier League (CPL) teams and possibly the West Indies national setup.

With each of the six participating franchises affiliated with CPL teams, the Breakout League acts as both a feeder competition and a proving ground, giving selectors a data-rich environment to evaluate players before the Caribbean’s marquee tournament later in the year.

Development-Driven Blueprint

In many ways, the Breakout League’s structure mirrors that of the IPL’s Emerging Player rule or Australia’s Big Bash League development lists designed not just for entertainment, but to ensure a steady pipeline of homegrown talent in a cricketing ecosystem that has historically seen depth challenges.

The inclusion of leg-spinners as a mandatory protected player also hints at the strategic direction West Indies cricket aims to take — adapting to evolving white-ball demands by encouraging spin bowling depth across formats.

League Impact and Future Outlook

With cricket boards across the globe increasingly shifting their focus to youth-centric tournaments, the West Indies Breakout League comes at a pivotal time. As T20 becomes the main driver of commercial and developmental interest in cricket, having a league with clearly defined player development objectives could provide West Indies cricket a much-needed boost in nurturing consistency across formats.

As the April 25 start date nears, attention now shifts to team preparations and preseason camps. Expectations are high, and for good reason this is not just a tournament, it’s a launchpad. A successful debut season could pave the way for the Breakout League to become an annual event, potentially influencing how regional boards manage their youth cricket strategies.

From young firebrands like Nathan Edward and Jordan Johnson, to spin prospects such as Johann Layne and Sion Hackett, the 2025 edition promises to be packed with high-energy, fearless cricket traits that have defined the Caribbean game for decades.

Stay tuned to official league channels and Cricket West Indies platforms for updates, squad unveilings, fixtures, and live coverage of the West Indies Breakout League 2025, as a new wave of Caribbean talent prepares to take centre stage.