The league's firstexpansion team, the new franchise was announced on 27 January 2015, supported by the Saint Kitts and Nevis government as well as the local business community.[1] During the2014 CPL tournament, Warner Park hosted nine matches, played over 10 days in August and accompanied by several carnivals and other entertainments. The venue hosted the final six group-stage matches, and then the finals series, comprising two semi-finals and the final between theBarbados Tridents and theGuyana Amazon Warriors.[2]
The Saint Kitts and Nevis franchise effectively replaced theAntigua Hawksbills franchise (based inAntigua and Barbuda), although it was intended that the Hawksbills franchise will be revived at a later date, with the CPL consequently featuring seven teams rather than six.[3] The Hawksbills were primarily removed from the competition in order to make scheduling easier, though their poor results and lack of a private owner also contributing to their removal.[4] Saint Kitts and Nevis nominated four previous Hawksbills players –Justin Athanaze,Carlos Brathwaite,Orlando Peters, andDevon Thomas – as their "retained players" prior to the 2015 CPL Draft.[5] South AfricanEric Simons, formerly senior coach of theDelhi Daredevils in theIndian Premier League (IPL) was confirmed as the franchise's inaugural coach in early February 2015.[6]
