Barbados Royals add Chamari Athapaththu to their Women's CPL roaster

The defending champions Barbados Royals have added the Sri Lanka batter Chamari Athapaththu and the Australian wicketkeeper-batter Georgia Redmayne to their squad for the 2024 edition of the Women’s Caribbean Premier League. 

They have also signed the Australian leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington and retained Laura Harris, thus completing their overseas slots ahead of the upcoming players draft later this month. 

Among the local lot, the Royals have retained their star all-rounder Hayley Matthews. Matthews has won the Player of the Match award 11 times in Women T20Is since 2022 while the other 26 West Indies players who have represented the team have managed only three between them. 

The other retained players from 2023 winning squad are Chinelle Henry, Afy Fletcher, Aaliyah Alleyne and Qiana Joseph. 

Athapaththu has been the lynchpin of the Sri Lankan batting line up for a few years now. She has the most runs for a Sri Lanka Women player in T20Is since 2022 - 1376 runs, 29.9 average, 124.3 strike rate, nine 50+ scores including a hundred. Consequently, Athapaththu has represented various T20 teams across the globe in the last two years - Sydney Thunder, Melbourne Renegades, UP Warriorz to name a few. Previously, she has played in the WCPL for Guyana Amazon Warriors. 

The Royals have six slots to fill in the player draft. The other participants in the tournament, Trinabago Knight Riders and Guyana, have already announced their retentions and the new signings. 

This year, the tournament will be held at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy from August 21 to August 29. 

Barbados Royals' squad before the draft:

Hayley Matthews, Chamari Athapaththu , Amanda-Jade Wellington, Laura Harris, Georgia Redmayne, Chinelle Henry, Afy Fletcher, Aaliyah Alleyne, Qiana Joseph

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