JAMAICA Tallawahs assistant coach Junior Bennett is comfortable with the composition of the side and believes the acquisition of Australian batsman Christopher Lynn will bring added punch to the side’s batting for the third edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The 24-year-old Lynn was picked in Round Four by the Tallawahs for US$70,000 during the recent CPL player draft held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.

The players’ value for the draft ranged from US$5,000 up to US$150,000.

Bennett said the Tallawahs coaching and management staff is “fairly satisfied” with the players they acquired.

He said Lynn was a batsman they were eyeing from last season.

“We saw him in the [Australian] Big Bash tournament and in the IPL [Indian Premier League] and he batted well. He’s a player we were trying to get last season, but he was going to be with the Australian ‘A’ team,” Bennett told the Jamaica Observer.

“He’s a very aggressive player and a brilliant fielder so he’s someone who can help our cause in the batting department. Captain Christopher Gayle has seen him also and was influential there [in making the decision].”

Lynn has played 45 Twenty20 (T20) matches and averages 28.25 with a remarkable strike rate of 139.09.

Jamaica Tallawahs, the champions of the inaugural CPL T20 tournament, also secured the services of veteran Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene and Jamaican left-arm swing bowler Krishmar Santokie.

Jayawardene, 37, is renowned for his wristy stroke play and ability to score quickly. He was drafted in the third round for $100,000.

Santokie, 30, was a successful player for Guyana Amazon Warriors for the first two seasons of the CPL. He was second on the wicket-taking list last campaign, while accounting for 17 victims. Santokie was chosen in the ninth round for $15,000.

The Tallawahs, who again have South African Mickey Arthur as head coach, had already held onto four of their more prominent players from last season, including big-hitting left-hander Christopher Gayle.

The others are swashbuckling all-rounder Andre Russell, skilful fast bowler Jerome Taylor and wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton, who is also a quick-scoring top-order batsman.

Gayle was retained for $150,000; Russell for $80,000; Taylor ($40,000); and Walton ($20,000).

Bennett said there were “one or two” players they missed out on, but he declined naming them.

Guyana Amazon Warriors coach Carl Hooper said the inclusion of Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga and West Indies ace off-spinner Sunil Narine makes the bowling attack a potent one.

“I’m very happy with what we managed to put together. We’ve got good enough batting to set decent scores and we have two of the best T20 bowlers in the world in Malinga and Narine. Providing we bat well there’s no reason we can’t go on and win it,” he said.

Trinidadian Narine, 26, was picked in Round One for $150,000, while Malinga, 31, followed in Round Two for $100,000.

Hooper, the former West Indies batsman, said not getting Pakistan’s towering fast bowler Sohail Tanvir was the only significant let-down for the Amazon Warriors. He said Tanvir, who went to new franchise St Kitts & Nevis for $80,000 in the third round, is a good asset not only due to his bowling, but also because he is a clean striker of the ball.

Businessman Uday Nayak, a member of the investor group which owns St Kitts & Nevis franchise, was also satisfied with the way the draft unfolded.

“The draft went well and it went to game plan for us. The first five names we had on our list we got them all so we are happy. We are very happy St Kitts & Nevis were awarded this franchise and we are very happy to be the owners. My expectation is that we will do very well and we can win,” he said.

Explosive Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, 34, and the West Indies and Jamaica batting star Marlon Samuels, also 34, were drafted by St Kitts & Nevis in the first ($150,000) and second ($100,000) rounds, respectively.

The 2015 CPL T20, consisting of six franchises, is scheduled to run from June 21 to July 26.

Barbados Tridents are defending champions.