Jamaica Tallawahs will not feature in the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament.
An Antigua based franchise will replace the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League this year.
A CPL statement recently said, “The CPL have bought the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise from the current owners. The owners were left with no option but to sell the Tallawahs back to CPL as they could not find a way to operate the team sustainably. The CPL remain committed to having a team based in Jamaican but this will be in 2025 at the earliest, In 2024 there will be six teams taking part in the CPL with franchises based in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and TT.”
The Tallawahs have competed in the CPL since the tournament bowled off in 2013 and are the second most successful team in the history of the CPL winning three titles. Only Trinbago Knight Riders have won more titles than Tallawahs with four.
According to media reports, Kris Persaud, a Guyanese business executive based in the United States, owned the Tallawahs, but he has sold it back to the CPL because ownership was unable to find a sustainable operating model.
“The owners were left with no option but to sell the Tallawahs back to CPL as they could not find a way to operate the team sustainably,” a CPL spokesperson said.
The Antigua Hawksbills played in the first two seasons of the CPL in 2013 and 2014, winning only three matches, before being replaced by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. However, no name has yet been proposed for the new franchise.
Antigua & Barbuda minister of sport, Daryll Matthew said: “We can expect very easily and conservatively to generate approximately US $6 million per year by simply having a CPL franchise based in Antigua & Barbuda.”
