Jamaica Tallawahs, the 2022 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) champions, will not feature in the tournament’s 2024 season and will be replaced by a new franchise based in Antigua and Barbuda.

The owner of the Tallawah Kris Persaud, a Guyanese businessman based in Florida,  sold the franchise it back to the CPL, as according to a release  “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 sale figure in dollars was not announced, nor details of why the operations were not financially sustainable, given that the franchise won a million US dollars last year for winning the title. 

In the meantime, the Tallwahs will be replaced by an Antigua-based franchise in 2024, which does not yet have a name. 

The island hosted a franchise named Antigua Hawks-Bills in the first two CPL seasons, …………but they won only three matches and were replaced by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2015.

The CPL spokesperson said the CPL remains committed to having a team based in Jamaica, but this will be in 2025 at the earliest.

West Indies T/20 captain Rovman Powell, who led Tallawahs to their second CPL title in 2022, said that it was “disappointing” for his home island to leave their franchise. 

The 2024 CPL season is expected to start in mid-August and will run into September.