For years, there have been talks to fully upgrade the over 130-year-old Sabina Park in Kingston, which has struggled to meet international standards. However, the new owners of Jamaica’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise, Kingsmen Sports Enterprise, says they’re committed to playing a key role in transforming it into a modern cricket facility.

Led by US-based businessman Fawad Sarwar, Kingsmen’s takeover was confirmed last month and will see the Jamaican franchise return for the 2026 CPL season following a two-year absence.

It also means the region’s premier T20 tournament will be played on Jamaican soil for the first time in six years, with Sabina Park not hosting matches following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), co-operators of Sabina Park with Kingston Cricket Club, managed to upgrade the lights and install a new modern scoreboard for last summer’s Test and T20 matches between West Indies and Australia through partnerships with the Jamaican and Indian governments,

However, the facilities around the stadium, which opened in 1895, aren’t modern and have previously been flagged by cricket’s world governing body, the ICC.

But Kingsmen representative Faisal Mirza told the Jamaica Observer that they intend to invest in the redevelopment of Sabina Park and elevate it to world class standards.

“Sabina Park’s got such a rich tradition — it’s got historic matches that have been played there,” he said.

“It’s a dated facility now [so] we would definitely want to work with local administration, with the Government, with Jamaica Cricket [Association] and see how we can best be a part of bringing this into the 21st century and now make it a venue that is not only state-of-the-art and modern but also up to a standard that international fans and international cricket is driven more towards Sabina Park than to other venues.”

JCA President Dr Donovan Bennett says he’s eager to hold discussions with Kingsmen executives and believes Sabina Park has the potential to not only be a top cricket venue but also a premier wellness centre.

“We have the rudiments of it already — we have a gym, a field, stands, a physiotherapist and a physical trainer, so it won’t take very much to get that sort of thing going where people from various companies downtown and in the rest of Kingston can come to Sabina park in the afternoons where they can keep their employees fit and ready for work,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Bennett is hoping to see a major financial boost in revenue from Sabina Park after years of significant losses.

“We certainly need to have a steady source of income, not just once or two times for the year and then we struggle for the rest of the year, but a [stadium] of that size, location and that amount of dollars that has been invested there, should be producing regular monthly returns and that is what we hope to achieve because without monthly returns we can’t plan long-term for cricket.”

Though yet to be announced by CPL or Kingsmen, the Observer understands that the Jamaican franchise will host four games at Sabina Park when the tournament bowls off in early August, the same number hosted by the Jamaica Tallawahs in 2019.

Mirza says reconnecting with the local fans is one of Kingsmen’s main objectives as they look to bring renewed excitement to the team.

“If a home team can’t have matches in its home venue, it can’t bring the fans in that enjoy it the most,” he said. “It goes without saying — Jamaican fans are the best sporting fans and I would say in this whole region right and if we can’t give them that glory and ownership of their own home team playing in their home ground, then what are we doing this for?”

“There’s a reason the CPL is the biggest party in the sport and I think the mecca of that party central so to speak has got to be Jamaica. So this is just a start — the week-long festivities in Jamaica but then bringing it back and giving it that annual year-round flavour where people can keep sort of congregating towards cricket or gathering for enjoying it and bringing that Tallawah spirit up.”

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

Aerial view of Sabina Park during the first T20 International between West Indies and Australia on Sunday July 20, 2025.