Chris Watson

Now in its eighth year, the programme will this season have 18 places available for students to study for a three credit fully accredited UWI Sports Marketing course. Those students will also be given the opportunity to put the skills they have learned into practice as part of the CPL’s marketing team with an internship at games throughout the 2024 tournament.

The programme has seen dozens of young people across the Caribbean get a fully integrated internship with the CPL team, with several of those interns then securing ongoing paid positions with the tournament.

This year's edition of the tournament will have matches in Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.  There will be opportunities for intern in all of those countries as well as the academic Sports Marketing aspect of the course, which is facilitated via online classes delivered by the University of the West Indies.

Chris Watson, Republic Bank CPL’s Head of Marketing, spoke highly about the programme's success.

“We have had some outstanding young people take part in the internship programme over the years and it has been really pleasing to see many of these interns go on to have paid jobs within the CPL. More than this, all those who have taken part have had a great insight into what it takes to put on a world class cricket tournament and entertainment product. We look forward to welcoming the 2024 cohort when we get underway in August," Watson said.

Meanwhile, Dr Akshai Mansingh, Dean of the UWI Faculty of Sport, echoed similar sentiments.

"We noticed that the interns previously partaking in the programme were mainly university students from the region and beyond. This expansion to offer a three-credit elective will allow them to get credits for the programmes they are pursuing, while gaining valuable experience in the largest sporting event in the region," Mansingh shared.

Applications are now open for those who are interested in taking part in the programme and you can apply via this link. 

The Caribbean Cricket Podcast, hosted by Machel St Patrick Hewitt and Santokie Nagulendran, has seen phenomenal growth over the last 12 months and has been given increasing recognition from established cricketing pundits for the depth and insight their show has offered.

This partnership with Hero CPL will see the Caribbean Cricket Podcast given a much bigger audience with the podcast being available across the CPL’s social media channels which have a combined following of over 6.5 million.

The CPL will work with the Caribbean Cricket Podcast to source guests and improve production values to build on an already very strong show that offers in-depth coverage and opinions on cricket in the Caribbean.

“At CPL we are always working hard to produce year-round engaging content and we have been really impressed at what the Caribbean Cricket Podcast has been producing. We look forward to working with them to make something that is already very good even better and ensure that even more listeners tune in to the podcast,” said Chris Watson, CPL’s Head of Marketing.

Santokie and Machel, founders of the Caribbean Cricket Podcast, said: ‘’This is a massively exciting partnership, we look forward to our content, which engages stakeholders across the region, being brought to a bigger audience via CPL channels. The CPL has established itself as an integral part of cricket in the Caribbean and it is a pleasure to be working alongside them. We will continue to create the podcasts and videos that fans have enjoyed so much over the past year and take things to the next level with this partnership.’’