Picture Credit: Twitter
Royals Sports Group-owned franchise Paarl Royals on Monday announced the latest addition to their retained squad as they pre-signed West Indies all-rounder Fabian Allen as a Wildcard pick ahead of the SA20 2024 Auction which is to be held on 27th September 2023 in Johannesburg. The signing means that the Boland Park-based franchise will go into the Auction with 16 pre-signed and retained players, with the likes of David Miller, Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Lungi Ngidi, and Tabraiz Shamsi making for a strong core of experienced international players.
The new signing, 28-year-old Allen, hails from Jamaica and joins fellow West Indian Obed McCoy at the Paarl Royals, having impressed with his impactful performances with the bat for Jamaica Tallawahs in the recently concluded season of the CPL.
Internationally, Allen made his T20I debut for the West Indies in 2018, and has since appeared in 34 matches, picking up 24 wickets at an economy of 7.43 while also boasting of an impressive strike rate of 176.8 in the last five overs in the CPL.
Commenting on the Wildcard signing, Royals' Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara said, "Fabian is an all-round talent who offers us depth in both batting and bowling and is a livewire in the field. He is someone who has played in a lot of T20 competitions around the world, and we are pleased to have him in the squad given the flexibility he brings to this team."
South African batters David Miller, spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Bjorn Fortuin, pacer Lungi Ngidi, all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, top-order batter Wihan Lubbe, and wicket-keeper batter Dane Vilas were all retained by the Royals earlier, along with domestic talent which includes batter Mitchell van Buuren, all-rounder Ferisco Adams, and pacers Codi Yusuf and Evan Jones.
T20 World Cup-winning captain and highest scorer in SA20 2023 Jos Buttler, English opener Jason Roy and West Indies' seamer Obed McCoy, were also announced as pre-signed players by the franchise. In addition, the Royals had also signed highly rated 17-year-old pacer, Kwena Maphaka, as an uncapped player, who became the youngest-ever player to be signed at SA20.