Although wanting to re-establish the Jamaican franchise as a contender in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Kingsmen Sports Enterprise representative Faisal Mirza says the organisation’s priority is to invest significantly in the island’s cricket and the economy.

As reported by the Jamaica Observer on Monday, the Fawad Sarwar-owned Kingsmen Sports Enterprise, based in the United States, will be the new owners of the Jamaican franchise for the region’s premier Twenty20 (T20) tournament after a successful bidding and negotiation process.

The Jamaican franchise returns in August from a two-year absence following the departure of previous owner Kris Persaud, who sold the franchise back to CPL and moved on to the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons.

Mirza says the Kingsmen, who also recently acquired the Hyderabad franchise in the Pakistan Super League, viewed Jamaica as the obvious next destination for their growing portfolio.

“I think it was a no-brainer for us,” he told the Observer. “Kingsmen have wanted to improve and enhance its cricketing profile when it comes to franchises and West Indies cricket in itself has such a rich history of success of exuberance in the game and Jamaica, as the saying goes, ‘we’re small but we tallawah’, and that resonates so much with our brand.”

“Kingsmen’s own sort of genesis and evolution came from starting really small and now growing into a burgeoning franchise that has dozens of cricketers centrally contracted that represent the Kingsmen brand both in the US and abroad and when we saw the CPL and its proximity to the US, the fact that it’s a league that is run by a full member board — that means a lot to us, you know, because in essence it gets you a seat at the big boys’ table and that’s something that, to become a voice for change in cricket, we felt was essential and [there is] no better team than to get behind Jamaica and bringing CPL and CPL franchise back to Jamaica.”

Sports Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange and Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett have reiterated the Government’s backing of the Jamaican franchise and the CPL. Their stance comes against the backdrop of claims by former owner Persaud, who said the lack of Government support had forced his departure from three-time champions Jamaica Tallawahs.

However, Mirza says he doesn’t foresee that happening to the Kingsmen as the ownership group plans to depend primarily on their own resources.

“The Government in Jamaica has been very cooperative in being forthright, and desires to bring cricket back to Jamaica through the CPL [but] I think most importantly, that we ourselves as Kingsmen are really driven to make this a success. We don’t want to rely on outside influence. Being able to partner on things is ideal but typically we try to drive from within and that helps create that sort of paradigm that we’re looking to create that creates a symbiotic relationship with the Government who see meaningful activity happening,” he said.

“Once that happens that should then sort of give them the confidence to boost involvement within the CPL ecosystem, as well. Because it could just as well be part-owner driven, part-Government driven, so we feel the best step forward is to take the initiative ourselves, to start making strategic aligned decisions that feed into the system that give that confidence and from there build more of a synergy to grow even better.”

Creating a successful team on the pitch will be a priority for the Kingsmen but Mirza says they’re determined to make meaningful impact on the Jamaican landscape, particularly in youth cricket.

“Obviously, the purchase of a franchise speaks to long-term planning. Anyone who’s familiar with the business would know it’s not something that is immediate or even short to medium term it’s a long-term investment and we want to invest in all the necessary components — injecting into the tourism sector and travel and chartered sector charter travel sector,” he said.

“Alongside that, we definitely want to invest in grassroots and again reintegrating grassroots cricket and school cricket into the Jamaican ecosystem. Driving more of the youth into cricket more and more so that you know that homegrown talent can once again sort of elevate to the levels of you know the greats like Dre Russ [Andre Russell], Rovman [Powell] and Chris [Gayle] and all these legends whose shadows are often arched even beyond the game itself right.”

Mirza added: “It’s just about keying in on infrastructure, on grassroots, on building that cricket ecosystem more and more entrenched into the national fabric so that we can then from there we get not just an ROI (return on investment) on our financial investment but on our social return as well because look no matter what you do a grass-roots investment isn’t going to give you sponsorship — that’s an investment you make into society into the future of the country and I think if anything that gives you an overview of the kind of perspective and the kind of investment we’re looking to make in the region.”

Fabian Allen (left) of Jamaica Tallawahs celebrates with teammates after taking the catch to dismiss Kieron Pollard of Trinbago Knight Riders during the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League match at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago, on September 9, 2023. (Photo: CPL via Getty Images)

Kingsmen Sports Enterpise is the new owner of the Jamaican franchise in the Caribbean Premier League.

Jamaica Tallawahs celebrate winning the Hero Caribbean Premier League final against Barbados Royals at Providence Stadium in Guyana on September 30, 2022. (Photo: CPL via Getty Images)