ST LUCIA – THE St Lucia Stars will no longer be a franchise in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
The team is owned by Indian American businessman Jay Pandya.
According to a statement, on August 7, 2019, CPL Limited terminated the participation agreement between it and Royal Sports Club, LLC, the entity that operated the St Lucia Stars franchise.
CPL stated, “As a result of that termination, Royal Sports Club, LLC no longer has the right to operate a team to compete in the Caribbean Premier League tournament, and the St Lucia Stars will not be participating in the 2019 Caribbean Premier League, which begins on September 4, 2019.”
However, the CPL noted that it is in the process of establishing and operating a new franchise to be based in St Lucia that will participate in the 2019 edition of the CPL.
But the Philadelphia-based Panday disagreed with the decision to terminate the Stars from the CPL. He told ESPNCricinfo, “We completely disagree with the CPL press release and will be working to address any issue the CPL may have in an appropriate manner and forum.”
St Lucia Stars was formerly known as St Lucia Zouks, one of six teams created in 2013 for the CPL.
The team was re-branded as St Lucia Stars in the 2017 season and has never won a CPL title. Its best finish was third in the 2016 edition.
