Image Credit- CPLT20
The recently revealed Antigua & Barbuda Falcons
will play in the Caribbean Premier League in place of the Jamaica Tallawahs.
The franchise’s owners, Worldwide Sports Management Group, revealed the news
during an inaugural ceremony at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Tuesday,
February 20. The stadium will serve as the team’s home field.
“The Antigua & Barbuda Falcons will bring a unique energy and vitality
to the Republic Bank CPL,” Krishna Persaud, founder and president of
Worldwide Sports Management Group, said. “We want to establish a winner’s
culture within the team and also a culture of winning and success off the field
– among every individual associated with this franchise and the amazing fans we
will have at our special home base at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in lovely
Antigua.”
In the first two CPL seasons, Antigua was home to the
Antigua Hawksbills, a team that won just three games before being supplanted in
2015 by the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
Due to Antigua & Barbados’ admission, Jamaica will not be hosting a CPL
2024 match. A CPL representative had stated that attempts would be made to
establish a franchise in Jamaica, but that the earliest possible date would be
2025. The Caribbean Premier League’s chief executive, Pete Russell, chastised
the island nation for their unwillingness to participate in cricket after
Sabina Park in Jamaica last held a match in 2019.
A later time will bring information on the Antigua
& Barbuda Falcons’ general organisational structure as well as the coaching
and managerial staff on board.
For the first time in ten years, games of the 2024 CPL will be held in Antigua,
from August 28 through October 6. The other locations are Barbados, Guyana,
Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago. The championship
game will be held at Providence, Guyana’s National Stadium.