Tallawahs CEO wants home matches in Jamaica

Jamaica Tallawahs CEO Jeff Miller wants the cricket franchise to return to Sabina Park or the Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium for its home games.

Miller revealed yesterday that the Tallawahs will not return to the Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida, to play their home fixtures, and he is hoping that the Government, along with the Tallawahs franchise, can sit and have a dialogue on how, collectively, Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket can return to Jamaica. The last home match for the Tallawahs was way back in 2019.

“Jamaica is our venue and Jamaica is our home. With or without the support of the Jamaican Government, we will not play in Florida. Our home country is Jamaica, whether we play in Kingston or Trelawny. I would love to start those dialogues, as we speak, and not having to wait until next year to have the same issues that we’ve had over the years. I’m making a call to the authorities in Jamaica to come, let’s sit and put our projections together so that we can have CPL and the Tallawahs back in Jamaica,” Miller said.

Miller pointed out the Brandon King-led team performed well in this year’s tournament, despite failing to retain the title. He said that it was evident what the home support did for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, who defeated the Trinbago Knight Riders by nine wickets to win their maiden CPL title on Sunday.

“I think the team performed well, and as with any tournament, you enter to win, so we were disappointed that we didn’t at least get to the final. If you saw the semifinal and final, you would have seen what a home crowd can do to lift the spirit of a team,” he stated.

Miller also shared that having to play yet another season of CPL cricket away from Sabina Park was an issue brought up by some of the players in this year’s tournament.

“The players were extremely disappointed not to play in Jamaica, especially as defending champions and that was a big issue for the players all throughout the tournament. Every time we had team meetings, they asked how come we’re not playing in Jamaica. So yes, we’re very disappointed,” the Tallawahs CEO explained.

Despite those off-field issues, the Tallawahs had standout performers. Imad Wasim finished third in the most-runs category with 313 runs and captain Brandon King finished fifth with 288. Seamer Mohammad Amir finished joint third with 16 wickets and Chris Green joint fifth with 15 wickets. For Miller, those performances spoke volumes for the team.

“Imad (Wasim) is a professional as he plays T20 cricket around the world. We also had a good performance from our new skipper in Brandon (King) and Mohammad Amir is always a force to be reckoned with. So, overall, we did have some great individual performances, but it takes a team to win a championship,” Miller concluded.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com