Caribbean Premier League's 2022 champions Jamaica Tallawahs will reportedly cease to exist, and will not be a part of the tournament's 2024 season. They will be replaced by a new unnamed franchise that is based in Antigua and Barbuda. (Cricket News)
Financial compulsions are said to have prompted the decision. Kris Persaud, a Guyanese businessman residing in Florida, owned the Jamaican franchise but has sold it back to the CPL. "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 was quoted as saying in an ESPNcricinfo report.
But the Caribbean league intends to have a team in Jamaica again in the coming years. "The CPL remains committed to having a team based in Jamaica, but this will be in 2025 at the earliest," a spokesperson said in the report.
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"In 2024, there will be six teams taking part in the CPL with franchises based in Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago," the CPL spokesperson added. Ten years ago, Hollywood actor Gerard Butler had bought shares in the Jamaican Tallawahs.
As for Antigua, the island hosted a franchise named Antigua Hawksbills in the first two CPL seasons, but they won only three matches and were replaced by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2015.
