A rising young cricket talent from Saint Lucia is set to get a career-defining opportunity to showcase his skills on a regional stage, after earning an invitation to Cricket West Indies’ prestigious Fast Bowling Assessment Camp scheduled to run from June 1 to 11, 2026, at Antigua’s Coolidge Cricket Ground and High Performance Centre in St John’s.
Cepal, a gifted right-arm fast bowler, will join a cohort of the most promising young pace bowling prospects from across the Caribbean at the 10-day development program. All on-site training and evaluation sessions will be led by Ottis Gibson, a highly respected Cricket West Indies pace bowling consultant who boasts an impressive resume as a former international Test player and a World Cup-winning head coach.
The assessment camp was developed as a targeted initiative within Cricket West Indies’ player development framework, focused on identifying emerging fast bowling talent, evaluating their current skill sets, and providing tailored support to nurture their growth ahead of future red-ball and white-ball international and domestic cricket competitions.
Cepal’s invitation to the camp came after a working visit to Saint Lucia earlier this year by Ramesh Subasinghe, head coach of the West Indies Academy. Subasinghe traveled to the island to run professional development workshops for coaches at the Saint Lucia Cricket High Performance Centre, helping upskill local instructors to better support emerging young athletes across the country.
While on island, Subasinghe also attended multiple local competitive matches to scout for new talent, including the final of the national PM Cup, where Cepal took home the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award for his standout bowling performances. That on-field display caught Subasinghe’s eye and secured the young bowler’s spot at the upcoming regional camp.
In an exclusive interview with local publication St Lucia Times on the sidelines of the player draft for the upcoming Clash of the Leatherbacks domestic tournament, Cepal shared his excitement about the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Cepal, who will lead defending champions Snapping Strikers in the Babonneau-based competition as captain, said he feels deeply grateful for the backing he has received from his local cricket community.
“I feel really good, you know. Just playing with Babonneau, the players are always backing me. Just being able to go out there and execute my abilities, I just feel really good,” Cepal told reporters.
Jervaughn Charles, head coach of the Babonneau Cricket Team, has worked with Cepal since the bowler was a primary school student and still coaches him on the Babonneau senior side. In an interview, Charles highlighted that the young bowler’s greatest competitive strength has always been his unflinching fearlessness and willingness to take calculated risks.
“I believe one of the things that really stands out to me is his fearlessness. I remember Joshua in primary school, and me being a teacher there. I actually bowled to Joshua, and he had this fearless attitude where I remember he dil-scooped me over the school one day in primary school. And it just goes to show that he’s not afraid to take risks and put in the hard yards. And when other persons are afraid to execute their skills, Joshua is always ready to do what he has to do,” Charles said.
Charles added that he hopes Cepal’s breakthrough selection will serve as motivation for other young aspiring cricketers across Saint Lucia to adopt the young bowler’s strong work ethic and courageous approach to the game. Off the pitch, Cepal comes from a family deeply rooted in public service and cricket: his father Cyrus Cepal serves as District Education Officer for District One, as well as a local cricket administrator and umpire, while his mother Dr. Samina Cepal is a noted public health specialist and author. Cepal’s older brother Dhan Raj Cepal, who was also a rising cricket prospect, passed away in a 2019 car accident.