Cape Town - On August 8 the St Lucia Stars will kick off the 2018 Caribbean Premier League when they take on Trinbago Knight Riders in the opening fixture of the tournament.

When they get started they will have explosive Australian batsman David Warner in their ranks and he can’t wait to get going. 

"It’s the world’s biggest party. They always talk about how exciting CPL is for West Indies cricket and getting fans engaged, they absolutely love it," Warner said.

"It is literally for the fans there, it’s a big massive party and it is just exciting that they can bring world class players.

"Growing up as a kid, watching their West Indies fast bowling and all these rivalries with different batsmen and players around the world, that’s what you grow up and picture the West Indies as, so to play in the CPL is going to be a massive buzz for me as everyone talks about how good it is."

Warner says he is excited about the squad that the Stars have put together for the 2018 tournament, with all bases covered as they look to bounce back after a disappointing season last year. 

"I think that when you look at the batting unit, it looks very strong and obviously the all rounding unit, and bowling unit complements itself," he said.

"I think the batting unit in the way I look at it is like hammer and tongs, so we can go out there and be almost 80/90 off the first six, but even if we lose a couple wickets we will still be flying at a rapid rate, that’s what I see with our batting order. We surely pack a punch there."