The Jamaica Tallawahs are one of only two Caribbean Premier League (CPL) teams, alongside the Trinbago Knight Riders, with at least three titles to their name.
They won the inaugural tournament in 2013 before doing so again in 2016 and 2022.
In the next edition of the Caribbean’s biggest T20 showcase, the Tallawahs will not be present.
In their place will be a not-yet-named Antigua-based franchise. This won’t be Antigua’s first time hosting a franchise as, for the first two editions of the CPL, they were the home of the Antigua Hawksbills who won only three of their 16 games before eventually replaced by the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots.
After acquiring the team in 2017, Guyanese businessman Kris Persaud sold the Tallawahs back to the CPL ahead of the 2024 season because he said he was unable to sustain the team given a lack of support from the Jamaican Government.
FORMER TT Red Force and West Indies cricket team manager Omar Khan says the current Cricket West Indies (CWI) administration must find a balance with the Windies players to ensure the best possible teams are represented across the three formats.
Last week, CWI announced a 15-man squad to tour Australia for two Test matches from January 17 to 29. As many as seven uncapped players were picked in the squad, with Kyle Mayers, Shai Hope and former West Indies captain Jason Holder all unavailable for the series. TT Red Force captain Darren Bravo rejected CWI's call-up as he is taking a break from the game. CWI lead selector Desmond Haynes said Hope wanted to play more red-ball cricket before returning to the Test arena after a two-year absence. With the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty/20 World Cup six months away, both Holder and Mayers pointed to a preference for the T20 format and opted against the Australia Tests.
"I think this is a communication problem we need to resolve. At the end of the day, you look at the other Test-playing nations and they do not have issues like these," Khan told Newsday, pointing to ongoing Test series between India and South Africa, and Australia and Pakistan.
"All of these guys are also T20 players, but they are willing to represent their country in Test cricket too. You have to work out a balance and the (CWI) board has to be able to work out that balance."
THE Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board will bowl off their new season on Thursday with the first round of the Under-23 Cup featuring talented youngsters on the verge of national selection.
The tournament is an initiative of Azim Bassarath, president of the TTCB and vice-president of Cricket West Indies, aimed at enhancing this important age group towards the strengthening of the local and regional cricket structure.
Pioneered by the TTCB, the development has earned the attention of CWI and other regional territories, and is earmarked for inclusion on the regional cricket calendar.
Matches in the tournament will be played at two venues – the National Cricket Centre at Balmain and Inshan Ali Park in Preysal – and will be of 50 overs per team, starting at 9.30 am.
The preliminary rounds will be contested on Thursday, December 28; Saturday, December 30; Wednesday, January 3, with the two top teams meeting in the final on Saturday, January 6 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba in a day-night fixture starting at 2 pm.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CMC) - The West Indies left-arm spin bowling duo of Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie benefitted from strong performances in the deciding fifth Twenty20 International (T20I) against England last Thursday at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad.
The Caribbean side claimed the T20I series 3-2 with a four-wicket win in the final match, largely on the back of their bowling, keeping England to 132 before completing a chase in the final over.
Hosein, playing on home soil, took two for 20 from his allotted four overs in the match, and he moved two spots up to an all-time high of fourth in the ICC Player Rankings for T20Is, overtaking the Sri Lankan pair of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.
Motie jumped 75 spots after claiming three for 24 in his four overs to earn Player of the Match in the same contest, and he entered the top 100 for the first time at 91st.
CRICKET WEST Indies vice-president, Azim Bassarath, believes the formation of a second regional Twenty20 tournament will only come about through ongoing collaboration between the regional governing body and the Caribbean Premier League.
Speculation has been rife over a second league to supplement the 11-year-old CPL, which would be aimed at harnessing grassroots talent and exposing a larger pool of talent for international development.
And Bassarath, also the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, said CPL organisers would play a key role in any such tournament, in concert with CWI.
“There are discussions going on and I am quite sure that something has to be done to make sure that the talent we have in the Caribbean is exposed and developed,” Bassarath told the Express newspaper.
