England allrounder Moeen Ali is set for his maiden CPL stint after having been signed up by defending champions Guyana Amazon Warriors for the ongoing season. Moeen, 37, will slot in as a replacement for Pakistan opener Saim Ayub, who is unavailable for the entire season.
Ayub's absence is a significant blow for Amazon Warriors, considering he was the breakout star in their run to their first title in 2023. Ayub was the second-highest run-getter last season, with 478 runs in 13 innings at an average of 43.45 and strike rate of 142.26. Nobody hit more sixes than Ayub's 28 in CPL 2023.
This time, the CPL clashed with Pakistan's two-match Test series against Bangladesh at home, where Ayub opened the batting for his team, and will also overlap with the Champions One-Day Cup, a new version of Pakistan's domestic 50-over competition. Ayub is set to play for Panthers in that tournament.
Moeen's availability for Amazon Warriors is subject to Birmingham Bears' progression in the T20 Blast in the UK, which is also clashing with the CPL. If Bears win the quarter-final against Gloucestershire on Friday, they will reach the Finals Day on September 14.
Until Moeen arrives for the CPL, New Zealand's hard-hitting opener Tim Robinson will act as his temporary replacement. Robinson is a bit of a Finn Allen clone who "loves hitting sixes". In the 2023-24 Super Smash, he was the second-highest run-getter, with 298 runs in six innings at an average of 59.60 and strike rate of 187.42. The tally included 139 off 64 balls, with ten sixes, against Otago, the second-highest score in the history of the Super Smash.
Soon after the Super Smash, Robinson made his T20I debut for New Zealand. More recently, during the New Zealand winter, he spent time at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai training against spin, something which could come in handy during the CPL. This will be Robinson's first T20 tournament outside of the Super Smash.
Even after Moeen links up with Amazon Warriors, Robinson will stay with the squad, filling in for Rahmanullah Gurbaz who will leave the CPL after the Barbados leg for international duty. Gurbaz is not part of the Afghanistan squad for the one-off Test against New Zealand next week but is likely to play the three-match ODI series against South Africa in the UAE. The Barbados leg of the CPL ends on September 17, with the ODI series in the UAE set to begin a day after.
Gurbaz will return for the last leg of the CPL in Guyana, with Robinson making way for him.
In the absence of Ayub, Amazon Warriors had Gudakesh Motie opening the batting in their opening game of the season and then Kevin Sinclair in their second game. Even during the last season, Amazon Warriors had promoted pinch-hitters to the top - Keemo Paul, for example, opened the batting in the final - but the signings of Moeen and Robinson gives them the option of using proper batters at the top.
Amazon Warriors have made a bright start to their defence, winning both their games so far.