Sarwan out for Tallawahs

The changes continue to ring in this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as the Jamaica Tallawahs are the latest franchise to lose personnel due to varying reasons.

Assistant coach Ramnaresh Sarwan is the latest official who will not be involved in this year’s competition, as he has requested to leave the tournament for personal reasons.

Sarwan’s absence was confirmed by CPL Director of Operations Michael Hall, who stated that the Tallawahs assistant coach was granted personal leave to travel home to Guyana.

Hall went on to add that the Tallawahs have brought in two assistant coaches to work with head coach Floyd Reifer; they are Trinidadian nationals Vinod Maharaj and Ryan Austin.

Tallawahs CEO and manager, Jeff Miller, told the Trinidad Newsday newspaper that Sarwan will be a big loss for the franchise. However, they are keen to put up a good showing with the personnel they have at their disposal.

“Yes, it’s a big loss,” said Miller. “Sars (Sarwan) brings a lot to the game – his knowledge, his experience and the way he has dealt with the players over the years, so it is a great loss.

“We are going to look to move forward. This is a rebuilding year for us, (but) I don’t just want to say rebuilding. We are here to win the tournament. I think we have a great team and the guys are keen and ready to go, and let’s see at the end what happens, but we are definitely looking forward to having a great tournament this year,” Miller stated.

CLASH WITH MANAGEMENT

In April of this year, Sarwan and the Tallawahs management were at odds with former player Chris Gayle, who put out a series of YouTube videos ranting about his treatment and ultimate dismissal from the franchise.

Miller, who added the manager’s portfolio to his CEO role following the departure of Andrew Richardson, says the franchise is looking to put the negative off-the-field distractions behind them and focus on this year’s tournament.

“That is behind us. We have 12 new players on our franchise this year from last year, so there is no baggage from last year. We are focused this year and the guys are focused on CPL, not what happened in the past,” Miller added.