T20 World Cup: Can the ‘quietly confident’ Cayman Islands cause the next tournament upset?

When the USA claimed a historic victory over Pakistan in a Super Over at the T20 World Cup, it left the cricketing world in shock.

It is rare an associate team can produce such an upset but the Cayman Islands are confident they will be the underdogs in the 2026 edition in Sri Lanka and India.

They took part in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier for this year’s tournament beating the Bahamas (31 runs), Panama (12 runs), and Argentina (three wickets) in the sub-regional qualifier – the first stage of the pathway.

By virtue of finishing in the top three, they progressed to the Americas regional final in Bermuda where they were joined by Canada, who won the tournament and secured a place in the 2024 World Cup. Now, the Cayman Islands are eyeing up the 2026 edition.

“I’m very quietly confident about our team,” said Cayman Islands all-rounder Sam Foster.

“The coaches haven’t said much but there’s an expectation that we’ve got quite a good side, we definitely need some work but we’re really confident we can qualify for the next World Cup.

“In the two and a half years that you need to qualify, other teams might have got stronger but we’re focusing on ourselves and we look quite good.

“Cayman Cricket is definitely improving for the two and a half years that I’ve been here. There’s a lot of energy being put into it.

“We’ve got a new coach, new staff have come on board and they’re doing an excellent job in getting us ready for what we can achieve.”

On his debut for the Cayman Islands, Foster was awarded Player of the Match after he made an impressive 73 not out, smashing 11 boundaries and two sixes in their 18-run victory over the Bahamas in March.

The Cayman Islands won the five-match series 3-2 with Foster also picking up a wicket with his first ball of international cricket.

“Those are my favourite memories,” Foster, who plays for an expat club called Greenies, said.

“We had five new debutants on the team so to win the series was a really good effort. We mixed the side to give new people an opportunity and it shows the strength and depth of our line-up.

“We were able to go abroad and adapt to the surroundings really well, so it was a really good effort.

“From a personal point of view, getting my cap was a really proud moment. I’ve worked really hard over the last two years to get myself in a good position to be in contention to play.

“All those times that I wasn’t able to be with my partner at the weekend because I was working on my cricket finally paid off and to be the Player of the Match in my first game was a dream come true.

“I never, ever expected that so it was a very proud moment.

“My first wicket was a low full toss that was spooned up in the air but I’ll still take it, no-one will be able to see that from the scorecard.”

Cricket has always been proximal to Foster’s life. His dad, Neil Alan Foster, was a fast bowler for Essex and played 29 Test matches and 48 one-day internationals for England from 1983 to 1993. Neil was also part of the England squad that finished as runners-up at the 1987 Cricket World Cup, led by Mike Gatting.

“He’s had a big influence on me because I always followed him around wherever he was going on tour,” Foster remembers.

“He retired quite early because he kept getting injured and that influenced him to become a physiotherapist.

“He spent so much time in the physio’s bed that when he finished playing, he did a bit of coaching but he decided to go down that route.

“Growing up I’ve always liked Kevin Pietersen, I loved watching him bat, the way he would just smash the ball everywhere, and the different types of shots he’d play.

“He’s a big inspiration although, it has to be said, I don’t bat like him at all. I’m a massive fan of Joe Root too and really admire how patient he is in Test cricket.

“I try to model my game on them a little bit but you can only be so patient in T20 cricket.”

Cricket wasn’t the only thing Foster inherited from his father. He’s also a physiotherapist and moved to the Cayman Islands two and a half years ago to pursue this passion, and has been playing cricket from day one.

“I’ve always liked the thought of helping people. My dad had his own company so I really saw how he worked and the great job he did helping people,” Foster said.

“It was always something I wanted to do, I’ve always loved my sport too so it really was a perfect crossover.”

He joined the Cayman Islands on their last ICC tour to Argentina which allowed him to better understand what would be expected of him as a player.

“We’re very lucky the weather is pretty good all year round. We do get rainy seasons but pretty much from January through till November we play cricket,” Foster added.

“I’ve played more cricket in the last two years than I ever played back in the UK and that’s really helped my game.

“We’ve got quite a strong squad with a few national players on our side so that also makes the standard here very competitive.”

A large portion of the population of the Cayman Islands is made up of expats from Jamaica, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Honduras which results in a diverse makeup of the cricket team.

Most of the cricketers play the sport part-time. This is not unusual particularly for associate teams who have less funding from the ICC.

When Silicon Valley’s left-arm fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar bowled USA to their historic victory over Pakistan in a tense Super Over last month, the story made headlines.

Perhaps in the 2026 edition of the World Cup, the Cayman Islands could give us a similar story.