Guardian senior cricket reporter Vinode Mamchan takes an inside look at the six teams that are vying for regional honours in this year's Caribbean Professional League (CPL) which bowls-off on Wednesday with the defending champions - Trinbago Knight Riders hosting the St Lucia Zouks at the Queen's Park Oval.
The obvious success of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL)T20 over the past three years has attracted such quality players, spread across all six teams that choosing a winner could be as difficult as understanding why Britain exited the European Union.
If I had to stick my neck out and make a choice before the tournament gets off, I would go with the Trinbago Knight Riders because this team is backed with match winners and given the fact that the finals weekend is more than likely to be played in Trinidad which is their home venue.
A close look at the team one would see an inspiration leader in Dwayne Bravo who is once again at the helm after leading the team to the title last year.
He has in his ranks now the very dangerous leather beater in Brendon McCullum. The Kiwi can take a game away from you before you realise what's happening. With him at the top of the order utilising the first six overs powerplay, Trinbago can get more than a handy start. He is expected to have the excellent South African Hashim Amla at the other end which makes matters even worse for the opposition.
Add Darren Bravo to that mix for the early part of the tournament and it is quite a formidable unit. The middle is well served by the captain, as well as the talented Pakistani Umar Akmal. The bowling attack will be led by mystery spinner Sunil Narine and although the pace attack will not bomb you out, there is enough guile and variation in their to outfox the best.
Don't count out the Patriots
My second pick for this year's CPL, is the St Kitts/Nevis Patriots. There is enough Red Force pedigree packed in their to make a serious challenge for top honours. You have what may prove to be the best opening pair in the competition this season in Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis.
Then you add to that the number bowler in T20s in the form of Samuel Badree and you can see where my confidence is coming from. Skipper Faf du Plessis is a brilliant and aggressive stroke player and has been in the region over a month now, so he should be accustomed to the conditions here and ready to perform.
Tabraiz Shamsi another South African has shown just how difficult his back of the arm spin is to negotiate. Then you have the Sri Lankan all rounder power of Carlos Brathwaite (World T20 hero) and Thisara Perera who can be a game changers. St. Kitts/Nevis Patriots is definitely one to watch this season.
The Barbados Tridents is another dangerous outfit with two of the most destructive batsmen in the T20 format at their disposal. Skipper Keiron Pollard can hit it a mile, while AB de Villiers has been described as the best batsman on the planet by India's Virat Kohli. Apart from the duo there is also the little pocket dynamite keeper in Nicholas Pooran who packs a serious punch.
The batting order will be centred around the T20 batting specialist Shoaib Malik. The Pakistani who has been with the Tridents for the last two CPL campaigns is the highest run getter in CPL history.
The team is also packed with quality all rounders led by West Indies captain Jason Holder and South Africans Robin Peterson, Wayne Parnell and David Wiese. Navin Stewart one of six Trinidadians on the team can also hit it a long way, while producing some slippery overs.
Their home venue Kensington Oval should provide pacer Ravi Rampaul with enough assistance to prove a handful.
Will Gayle stand-upand be counted
One cannot rule out any team that includes the world boss Chris Gayle and former champions Jamaica will always be in the race. Gayle has with him the legendary Kumar Sangakkara, we well as excellent Bangladeshi all rounder Shakib Al Hasan. This should take care of their batting needs with the like of Chadwick Walton going bananas at the top of the order.
The all rounder prowess of Andre Russell could also prove frightening for opposing teams and the pace of South African Dale Steyn. St Lucia Zouks will be led by the only man who has two World T20 titles as captain in Darren Sammy.
The St Lucien is a massive figure in T20 cricket and will look to motivate his team to success after always being a threatening force over the years. He will bank the experience of Denesh Ramdin for the first few matches as well as the experience Australians Mike Hussey and Shane Watson.
The South African David Miller hits a long ball and he is expected to support the hurricane West Indies openers in Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher at the top of the innings.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors look the least impressive on paper but one thing about the team from the South American mainland is that they always take a professional approach to their cricket.
Losing the likes of Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin and Lendl Simmons must hurt their chances but the man at the helm Martin Guptill is a tremendous asset in this format. The big Kiwi slammed a double hundred against West Indies at the last World Cup and his batting exploits are quite well known. He will be looking for support from his main buy in Pakistan's Sohail Tanvir and the West Indies player Dwayne Smith.
HERO CPLT20 LINE-UPS 2016
Trinbago Knight Riders: Dwayne Bravo (capt), Hashim Amla, Ronsford Beaton, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Yannic Cariah, Kevon Cooper, Anton Devcich, Hamza Tariq, Brendon McCullum, Nikita Miller, Colin Munro, Sunil Narine, William Perkins, Anderson Phillip, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Javon Searles, Umar Akmal.
Barbados Tridents: Keiron Pollard (capt), AB de Villiers, Jason Holder, Kyle Hope, Akeal Hosein, Imran Khan, Ashley Nurse, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Rampaul, Raymon Reifer, Shoaib Malik, Shamar Springer, Navin Stewart, Steven Taylor and David Wiese.
St Kitts/Nevis Patriots: Faf du Plessis (capt), Samuel Badree, Tino Best, Carlos Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, Jonathan Carter, Nikhil Dutta, Brad Hodge, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis,
Jeremiah Louis, Thisara Perera, Kieran Powell, Krishmar Santokie, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lendl Simmons, JJ Smuts, Devon Thomas.
Jamaica Tallawahs: Chris Gayle (capt), Timroy Allen, Nkrumah Bonner, Jonathan Foo,, Imad Wasim,Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Andre McCarthy, Garey Mathurin, Rovman Powell, Alex Ross, Andre Russell, Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan, Dale Steyn, Oshane Thomas, Chadwick Walton, Kesrick Williams.
Guyana Amazon Warriors: Martin Guptill (capt), Ali Khan, Chris Barnwell, Devendra Bishoo, Anthony Bramble, Rayad Emrit, Assad Fudadin, Shimron Hetmyer, Steven Jacobs, Steven Katwaroo, Chris Lynn, Jason Mohammed, Veerasammy Permaul, Orlando Peters, Dwayne Smith, Sohail Tanvir, Paul Wintz, Adam Zampa.
St Lucia Zouks: Darren Sammy (capt), Johnson Charles, Miguel Cummins, Derone Davis, Andre Fletcher, Michael Hussey, Delorn Johnson, Nitish Kumar, Eddie Leie, Keddy Lesporis, Kyle Mayers, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Gidron Pope, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kristopher Ramsaran, Shane Shillingford, Shane Watson.