Thirteen years after it first brought high-octane T20 franchise cricket to the Caribbean, the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is cementing its legacy by launching a dedicated Hall of Fame, an annual honor that will recognize the trailblazers who turned a regional cricket tournament into a global sporting phenomenon. The initiative will celebrate contributions from both on-field athletes and off-field builders of the competition, which has redefined modern Caribbean cricket since its debut in 2013.
Over its 13-year history, CPL has cultivated some of the most iconic moments in global T20 cricket. It all began in 2013, when Chris Gayle’s explosive unbeaten 47 steered the Jamaica Tallawahs to lift the tournament’s very first championship trophy. In the years that followed, the league has delivered countless record-breaking performances: Trinbago Knight Riders set an unmatched tournament record with a mammoth total of 267/2, all-rounder Dwayne Bravo built a legacy of consistent wicket-taking and title wins across every era of the league, Tim Seifert and Andre Russell share the record for the fastest century, both reaching the milestone in just 33 balls, Shakib Al Hasan holds the competition’s best bowling figures with an incredible 6/6, and Trinbago Knight Riders made history when they completed an unbeaten 2020 season en route to becoming the first CPL side to claim three, and later five, tournament titles.
Today, CPL stands as a cornerstone of Caribbean sport, drawing millions of global viewers while showcasing elite homegrown and international cricket talent across its six regional franchises. The new Hall of Fame is designed to give these iconic moments and the people who created them a permanent, lasting home in the tournament’s history. Under the program’s structure, two new inductees will be welcomed into the Hall of Fame each year: one current or former player who delivered extraordinary on-field performances, and one off-field individual whose behind-the-scenes impact has been instrumental to the league’s growth and success.
“CPL has given us thirteen years of moments people still talk about – Gayle in 2013, Pollard’s record-breaking eighteenth title, Dwayne Bravo’s wickets and wins, and nights nobody who was there will forget,” said Pete Russell, CEO of CPL. “The Hall of Fame is how we make sure those moments, and the people who created them, are never lost. As we head into our second decade, it’s time to give this tournament’s history a permanent home.”
The first cohort of inductees will be celebrated at a star-studded gala dinner hosted in Barbados on September 15, 2026, which will bring together current stars, West Indian cricket legends, and members of the regional cricket community for a night of celebration. All proceeds from the inaugural event will go to The Sir Clive Lloyd Healthcare Foundation, supporting the organization’s critical work advancing prostate cancer awareness and accessible testing across the Caribbean. Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for men in the region, and the foundation’s Great Catch initiative works to expand early detection services to underserved communities across the Caribbean.
Moving forward, the Hall of Fame induction will become an annual highlight of the CPL calendar, with new inductees announced in the weeks leading up to each year’s gala. The identities of the first two inductees will be revealed to the public in the coming weeks, as the league prepares to open a new chapter of honoring its past while supporting causes that matter deeply to the Caribbean community it serves.