The newest franchise in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has been launched. The Antigua & Barbuda Falcons were officially unveiled during a gala opening ceremony hosted by the franchise owners – WORLDWIDE Sports Management Group. Parimatch, the number one global gaming platform will proudly serve as the main sponsor of the team.

The event was held on Tuesday evening at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, which will be the home of Antigua & Barbuda Falcons when they compete in the 2024 edition of the Republic Bank CPL – the Biggest Party in Sport.

Krishna (Kris) Persaud, Founder and President of WORLDWIDE Sports Management Group was thrilled as he showcased the new team’s name and the colorful and dynamic logo for the first time to excited guests. Mr. Persaud also expressed delight in having the team officially on board for the regional event, which attracts sold-out audiences for matches.

“We are brand new; we are here, we are ready … let’s get ready to play! The Antigua & Barbuda Falcons will bring a unique energy and vitality to the Republic Bank CPL. We are ready to fly high and conquer what is before us. 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," Persaud said.

“What you are witnessing today as we unveil the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons, is something truly special and I want to thank the Government of Antigua & Barbuda, who have worked closely with us to bring the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons to life. Antigua is our home … this country has a rich cricket history, and the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons will create more great history on these shores. It is now time for the Falcons to fly high," he added.

Details on the overall structure of the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons and the coaching and management staff for the team will be announced at a later date.

The 2024 Republic Bank CPL will take place from August 28 to October 6 with games taking place in Antigua for the first time in 10 years. The final will once again take place in Guyana at The National Stadium in Providence.  The tournament will also plans to have matches in Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago. Once again, the window for the CPL will not clash with West Indies fixtures, so the best Caribbean talent will be on show at the Biggest Party in Sport.

Jeff Miller, CEO and General Manager of the Franchise was delighted at its return.

“Welcome back Antigua & Barbuda! This is where the ‘party’ in cricket started, and we are delighted to be back for this exciting event. We plan to have a full house for every match with our Antigua & Barbuda Falcons on show. This is what we have been waiting for. It will be amazing to see the Sir Vivian Richard Stadium packed and our lovely super fans enjoying the action and the atmosphere, as well as seeing great cricket on the field, the non-stop party in the stands and all the festivities that come with cricket in the West Indies," he said.

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 Tallawahs CEO, Jeff Miller, shed more light on this lack of support from the Government.

“Over the years, we have failed to get any backing or support from the Jamaican Government. We have submitted proposals over the years requesting Government support and we have failed to reach some kind of agreement to say that the Government is supporting the franchise,” Miller told SportsMax.tv in an interview on Wednesday.

“The business plan of CPL entails that the Governments play a major role in financial support of the franchises and that’s what the other franchises are receiving from their respective countries and Jamaica has failed to participate in those environs,” he added.

In fact, Jamaica, one of the regions proudest cricketing nations, has not hosted a CPL game since September 2019 when the Tallawahs lost by 20 runs to the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

“Unfortunately, the franchise cannot be sustained in Jamaica. We cannot have a franchise where we don’t have home games,” Miller said.

“When you don’t have home games, you’re losing ticket sales, you’re losing merchandising, you’re losing concession, you’re losing sponsors. So, it’s not only the government support, you’re losing others as well because what business would want to support a franchise and they can’t get any benefits from the franchise playing within the country? For what we see, there were no games scheduled for 2024 either! It’s unsustainable,” Miller added.

This was due to the reluctance of the Government to pay the CPL hosting fee for the last four years. When asked why this was, Miller said he wasn’t privy to those discussions but always had promises from Jamaica’s Minister of Sport, the hon. Olivia “Babsy” Grange regarding financial support.

“I’m not at privilege to those conversations. Those conversations would’ve been between them and CPL. I’m not sure what transpired but from the Tallawahs standpoint, we know that the minister was very graceful in her discussions with us but when it came to funding that’s when things would go off track. We were promised on numerous occasions that there would be something in the budget, nothing substantial but even a small gesture, we were not able to receive those funds,” he said.

Persaud and Miller will lead the new Antigua-based franchise which will be part of next year's competition, replacing the Tallawahs in the six-team Twenty20 tournament. The CPL is in search of new owners for the Jamaica-based franchise.

Miller said they have gotten commitments from the Antiguan Government and are looking forward to a fruitful partnership in the future.

“We have commitments from the Antiguan Government. We can’t disclose any information, per se, but it’s substantially more than what we were getting from Jamaica,” he said.

“We can’t tell the players; Jamaica’s not supporting us so we can’t pay your salary. All of those things have to be taken care of so we’re looking forward to greener pastures and Antigua seems to be in a better position to support and seems to want to have a CPL team back in Antigua. We think it’s a good fit for the franchise,” Miller added.

Announcements related to the branding of the new Antigua franchise will come next month, according to Miller,

“I’m engaging the fans in Antigua to participate in the naming of the franchise. That deadline should be around January 20^th or so. Then, we will announce the name as well as the colors and logo,” he said.

Rovman Powell is to assume a more involved role as captain for the Jamaica Tallawahs once the 2022 Hero CPL season gets underway in August.

Powell was appointed captain last season when the two-time CPL champions struggled to find consistency and missed the playoffs after only winning four of their 10 matches.

However, come next season, Tallawahs CEO Jeff Miller expects Powell to work more closely with the new coaching staff headed by Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

“I think that Chanderpaul along with the assistant coaches has expressed that to Rovman," Miller revealed in a recent interview with Sportsmax.TV.

"We have been having some great meetings and I think this year we will see that all-inclusive where the player, as the captain, is involved in all aspects of team management, selection, etcetera,” Miller told Sportsmax.TV.

“I think we will see a different side of him (Rovman) this year.”

Turning his attention to Brandon King, who has been brought in to open the batting, Miller said the former Amazon Warrior will be given the opportunity to express himself in the coming season.

“Brandon is another dynamic player and we believe that having Brandon at the top of the order with Kennar (Lewis) will produce some exciting games, and Brandon also wanted to come home and we gave him that opportunity to play for the Tallawahs and express himself and we know how Brandon can express himself,” Miller said.

The CEO also hinted that the international players who have been signed will be very suited for the potentially spin-friendly pitches in Guyana that will host several matches including the CPL finals for the next three years. 

"When you see our international players then you will see why we selected those players because they will make a difference in Guyana," said Miller, who also expressed confidence that the Tallawahs will give a good account of themselves in the 2022 season.

"I am confident about the team. Look, we have a dream team support staff - Chanderpaul, Sir Curtly Ambrose, we have Andre Coley. We have an announcement to make in the coming days pertaining to our manager and that will really cement our support staff."

With the departure of Andre Russell to the Trinbago Knight Riders for the coming Hero CPL season, Jamaica Tallawahs CEO Jeff Miller believes Fabian Allen is more than capable of filling in for the mercurial all-rounder.

Hero CPL announced earlier this week that TKR had signed both Russell and Nicholas Pooran for the 2022 season of the CPL that is set to run from August 30 to September 30, 2022. The two-time winners, Tallawahs signed Allen and compatriot Brandon King, who represented St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Guyana Amazon Warriors, respectively last season.

Miller, speaking with Sportsmax.TV Monday night, said while the news might have come as a shock to many, Russell’s departure was something that the Jamaica Tallawahs expected.

 “Russell, last year, made a statement that it was his last year, so I don’t think it’s shocking to us,” Miller said. “But look, he has been a gentleman. He called and said the reasons why, and this is franchise cricket, it’s a business, and as a business players have to look for out for the best for themselves and their families, so I wish Russell all the best and hopefully, we will see him back sometime in the future.”

That said, Miller addressed the king-sized hole Russell leaves behind in the Tallawahs line-up saying that fellow Jamaican, Allen, is more than capable of stepping up.

“I think Fabian Allen brings a whole lot to the dynamics of the franchise. He is a very dynamic player, fielder, bowler; he always has a good CPL and I am looking that Fabian will step in and fill that position that Russell left as a leading all-rounder and I think he is ready and he really wants to excel and we are giving him an opportunity to express himself in a big way.”

Miller explained that the Jamaica Tallawahs have also signed a number of international players that he expects will come in and bolster the team that only won four of its 10 games last season and failed to make the playoffs.

“I think when you see the combination of what we have in combination with the international players that we have signed that you will see that the Tallawahs will have a very competitive year.”

The names of the international players will be released by Hero CPL in the near future.