Gear up for red cards, and the Bravo-Pollard bromance - All you need to know about CPL 2023

The biggest party in cricket is back?
Yes, there's more for fans of West Indies cricket to look forward to on the back of their T20I series win against India. The CPL starts on Wednesday, August 16, with defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs taking on hosts St Lucia Kings in Gros Islet.

After 30 league games, the top four - out of six teams - will qualify for the playoffs and the final is scheduled for September 24 in Providence, Guyana.

How many countries will the CPL visit this time?
The CPL 2023 season will be played in five countries: St Lucia, St Kitts, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. Each country will get six league games across four match days. Guyana will additionally host the playoff leg.

That sounds... tiring.
Well, yes and no.

Games are spaced out - with only four match days every week. At each location, there will be two weekday games, followed by a break, and then four double-header games on Saturday and Sunday.

After that, there's a break again before cricket resumes the following week in a new country following the same pattern. In all, there are only 24 match days even though the tournament lasts 39 days.

But... Tallawahs don't have a home game.
Yes, the CPL is not going to Jamaica, but neither did it last season, and Tallawahs won the title anyway. So home advantage has never mattered too much in the CPL.

Tallawahs are a strong side with Brandon King, Imad Wasim, Fabian Allen and Alex Hales in their squad. What they seemingly lack is a high-quality wristspinner.

Who are the other strong sides?
Guyana Amazon Warriors have been historically strong. They have five runner-up trophies and have reached the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. That side - with Shimron Hetmyer, Azam Khan, Romario Shepherd and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, among others - is consistently dangerous.

With Dwayne Bravo joining forces once again with good friend Kieron Pollard, four-time champions Trinbago Knight Riders will also be quite keen on making strong return after finishing last in 2022.

Any funky rules in CPL 2023?
Nothing too out-of-the-box, just a simple red card! According to new playing conditions, if the fielding side is operating too slowly, there might be a situation where the umpire asks one fielder to exit the field in the 20th over.

This could be a big gamechanger for batting sides, but it's the most extreme step in a series of new rules written up to combat a slow pace of play. Even batting sides can be hit with a five-run penalty if they are wasting time.

Who are the overseas players to watch out for?
Among new entrants into the CPL, Ambati Rayudu, the recently retired India international, has signed up with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. Zimbabwe's Sean Williams joins St Lucia Kings while Pakistan's Mohammad Haris will represent Amazon Warriors.

The spin duo of Qais Ahmad and Maheesh Theekshana give Barbados Royals an edge in that department. The star South African batter Dewald Brevis is with the Patriots, while Faf du Plessis and Sikandar Raza bring experience to Kings. Head over to oursquads page for the full line-ups.

How can fans outside the Caribbean catch the action?
Every match of CPL 2023 will have live ball-by-ball commentary on ESPNcricinfo. Fans in India can watch on FanCode. USA and UK viewers can watch on Willow TV and BT Sport respectively. Fox Sports is broadcasting in Australia, Sky Sports NZ in New Zealand and SportsMax TV across the Caribbean. Fans in Pakistan can watch on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Exciting... can't wait for it to all kick off!
If you're from Asia, you might have to rethink that unless you plan to be up on the wee hours. Most games are scheduled for 7pm local which is 4.30am in India and 4am in Pakistan. You'll have better chances catching games live on double-header days, when the first game is at 10am local time - that is, 7.30pm in India and 7pm in Pakistan.