Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) President Dr Donovan Bennett says that while the Kingsmen ownership continues to find its footing with the Jamaican franchise in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), his eyes remain fixed on the developmental aspect of their partnership.

For two years Jamaica was without a franchise in the region’s premier Twenty20 cricket competition, but that changed when the Kingsmen Sports Enterprise landed a successful bid.

The move also coincided with the return of the competition to Jamaica, which last hosted a CPL match when the now-defunct Tallawahs defeated Barbados Tridents in September 2019.

But amidst the buzz as the freshly branded Jamaica Kingsmen prepared to host their fourth and final home match of the 2026 season at Sabina Park late on Tuesday, Bennett noted that grassroots plans are in the pipeline.

“Certainly [hosting the games] has helped to rekindle interest in cricket. My [goal] now is to get everybody on board — both the [Kingsmen] franchise and the [Jamaican] Government — in our developmental programmes,” he told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.

Jamaica Kingsmen Andre Russell bats during the Caribbean Premier League match against Trinbago Knight Riders at Sabina Park on August 15, 2026.

In February 2026 the Observer had reported that the United States-based Kingsmen group was committed to supporting grassroots development.

Kingsmen Sports Enterprise representative Faisal Mirza had said that one of the Fawad Sarwar-owned organisation’s priority is to pump resources into developing Jamaica’s young talents.

“…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… so that homegrown talent can once again sort of elevate to the levels of… 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 said.

Bennett said on Tuesday that he looks forward to the investment and insisted the raw talent is available in Jamaica for players to matriculate.

“The Kingsmen are smart people. They not only want to help Jamaica’s cricket for Jamaica, they want to help Jamaica’s cricket for the Kingsmen also,” the JCA boss said.

Jamaica Kingsmen captain Rovman Powell (centre) talks in a team huddle during the Caribbean Premier League match against Guyana Amazon Warriors at Sabina Park on August 13, 2026.Photos: Naphtali Junior

“We have some very good youngsters around. I’m very excited about five or six Under-19 youngsters who, with the proper type of developmental programmes in place, can go very far.

“I’ve already spoken to the Kingsmen and they are very interested in our age-group programmes, and we’ve spoken to the Government who have promised to help, and also to a few sponsors who we are trying to engage,” he said.

He said he is already rubbing his hands at the prospect of implementing plans to help shape the future of Under-13 age-group players.

“We started our Under-13 programme last year and that needs to continue. We already have got invitations from both Guyana and Trinidad for our Jamaica Under-13 team to participate in tournaments there in December so we need to get busy as soon as the CPL is finished. In Jamaica — and we see other territories doing it as well — is to place the emphasis on the ground level,” Bennett said.

— Sanjay Myers

Jamaica Kingsmen opener Kirk McKenzie hits the ball during the Caribbean Premier League T20 match against Trinbago Knight Riders at Sabina Park in Kingston on August 15, 2026.