Jamaicans Fabian Allen and Sheldon Cottrell as well the explosive opening batsman Evin Lewis are among eight players being retained by the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots for the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) running from August 28 to September 19.

The players being retained also includes Dwayne Bravo, who arrived in St Kitts from Trinbago Knight Riders in a trade deal that saw Denesh Ramdin go the other way. They have also signed Sherfane Rutherford from Guyana Amazon Warriors.

In addition to these two signings, SKN also Jon Russ Jaggesar and Rayad Emrit as well as exciting young prospects Joshua da Silva and Dominic Drakes.

“The St Kitts and Nevis Franchise extends a warm welcome to the new players joining us this year as well as to our retained core team for yet an another exciting season of the Hero CPL,” said franchise owner Mahesh Ramani.

“This year makes it extra special with us playing at our home – Warner Park. I would like to thank all our team players, support staff and management as well as our global fan base for their continued love and support. I look forward to an amazing season in 2021.”

The Patriots have eight spots to fill to complete their squad and these will be announced in the coming weeks.

Runners-up in the 2017 final when they lost to the Trinbago Knight Riders by three wickets, the SKN Patriots advanced to the playoffs in 2018 and 2019, finishing third and fourth, respectively. However, 2020 proved to be a disastrous year for the Patriots, which won one of their nine matches to finish at the bottom of the Hero CPL standings.