(Castries, Saint Lucia– June 17, 2025) Fresh off a maiden Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title, the Saint Lucia Kings have lost their talisman and captain Francois “Faf” du Plessis. The 40 year old opening batter took to social media today (June 17, 2025) to announce his departure.
“Thank you @saintluciakings”, the message read. “Absolutely loved my time at the Kings. Was a privilege to lead a great group of men and achieve what we set out to do, to win the CPL for the first time!!! The only reason that can be more important than for me to come back and defend the title is my family and prioritizing them. Will miss sharing the field with you guys. All the best with defending the title.”
Largely regarded as one of the greatest fielders of all time, in 2015, du Plessis became the first South African to score centuries in all forms of the game. Named as the South African Cricketer of the Year in 2019, he is the first international captain to defeat Australia in Australia in all three formats of the game.
Faf du Plessis captained the Saint Lucia Kings for the first time in the 2021 Caribbean Premier League (CPL). He continued to captain the team in subsequent CPL seasons, including the 2024 season, which saw the Saint Lucia Kings win their first CPL title. Du Plessis scored 405 runs from 12 innings at an average of 36.81 in last year’s title winning run for the Kings, second only to opening partner Johnson Charles with 452. He is the 3rd all time leading scorer for the CPL Franchise with 1126 runs from 36 innings at an average of 37.53 with a high score of 120* (not out) coming against the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots on September 4, 2021.
Speaking exclusively with Saint Lucia Daily Post, current head coach of the Saint Lucia Kings Daren Sammy, heaped praise on du Plessis. “Yeah, Faf would definitely be missed. He’s irreplaceable in the Saint Luscia Kings. You know, when I retired, I wanted someone to lead a similar way that I lead and understand what we were trying to do there in Saint Lucia and trying to bring a championship to the island and Faf came in and, you know, he was just so good on and off the field, not only with his performances, but his leadership. You know, he understood the mission And yes, as much as we wanted him back and he wanted to be back, but the scheduling and also having a young family trying to limit the amount of cricket he’s playing.”
Sammy continued,” But I really want to take this time out to thank Faf for his contributions throughout his time here. We’ve gotten on to be really good friends. And yes, he has wished the team all the best. And yes, he’s irreplaceable. And yes, he will be missed. But yeah, he’s irreplaceable in in the Saint Lucia Kings. So, I too wish him all the best. And, and who knows, he might come back in a different capacity in the future.”
Speculation is rife as to who will pick up the mantle as captain for the Saint Lucia Kings this season. Roston Chase seems the most obvious candidate, as he was recently installed as new West Indies Test captain also under head coach Daren Sammy. One thing is for certain; du Plessis will go down in Saint Lucia Kings history as the first captain to bring home the coveted CPL title and whoever succeeds the South African will have big shoes to fill.
The franchise and the entire nation owe Francois “Faf” du Plessis our gratitude and wishes him all the best moving forward.
