Holder leaves Barbados Royals after 13 years to join STKNP; Rutherford moves to Royals
STKNP also acquired middle-order batter Alick Athanaze by trading out Rutherford
ESPNcricinfo staff
20-May-2025 • 7 hrs ago
Jason Holder has only played for Barbados Royals so far in the CPL • CPL T20 via Getty Images
In a landmark move in the history of CPL, experienced allrounder Jason Holder will leave his home franchise Barbados Royals after 13 years, to join St Kitts & Nevis Patriots (STKNP) for the upcoming season. As part of the trades and transfers before the CPL draft next month, STKNP also acquired middle-order batter Alick Athanaze while trading middle-order basher Sherfane Rutherford to Royals.
Holder had been with Royals since the inaugural CPL season in 2013. That period included lifting the trophy twice, in 2014 and 2019, the latter under Holder's captaincy. He played 104 matches for Royals to take 97 wickets that included two four-fors, and also scored 1169 in 85 innings at a strike rate of 129.60.
Rutherford, currently playing IPL 2025 for Gujarat Titans (GT), will be turning out for his third CPL franchise, having represented STKNP for the last four seasons and Guyana Amazon Warriors from 2018 to 2020.
Athanaze has also turned out only for Royals so far, in 2023 and 2024. He made his international debut in 2023 before his CPL debut, and played 19 matches in all for Royals. He scored 344 runs in those outings, averaging 22.93 and striking at 106.83 with just one half-century.
STKNP had finished last in 2024 with just one win from 10 games, while Royals had progressed to the playoffs and lost qualifier 2 to runners-up Amazon Warriors.
CPL 2025 will be played from August 14 to September 21 with no clashes with West Indies' international assignments. St Lucia Kings are the defending champions this time.