KINGSTON, Jamaica – Two former national cricketers have warned that the exit of T20 stars Chris Gayle and Andre Russell from the Jamaica Tallawahs will have repercussions for the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise team.
Wayne Lewis said it would be a big blow for the outfit if Russell follows through on his decision to make 2020 his last year playing for Tallawahs, and therefore urged the franchise to try to make things right with him. Meanwhile, Nehemiah Perry said Gayle’s abrupt departure was not good for either the team or the sport.
Gayle, the world’s greatest T20 batsman with 13 000 runs and 22 hundreds, signed with St. Lucia Zouks last month after not being retained by Tallawahs, despite having another two years left on his contract.
Last Tuesday, a day after Gayle published a series of YouTube videos accusing assistant coach Ramnaresh Sarwan of conspiring with franchise’s management to get him off the team – a claim denied by both parties – Russell announced on Instagram Live that he would play out the last year of his contract but would not be returning because he was “not comfortable”.
Tallawahs signed Russell in 2018 after he returned from a one-year ban for a doping violation.
Lewis told the Jamaica Gleaner if Tallawahs lose the 32-year-old, it would impact the franchise’s ability to attract crowds, which would affect the bottom line.
“He’s a crowd puller for the Tallawahs. When he plays at home, a lot more persons will come and watch him play. From an economic standpoint, it’s going to be a big blow for them. Can they get a player of his calibre to replace him? I doubt that very much,” he said.
“If he is going somewhere else, then we are going to be robbed of that and [because of] the revenue situation with the Tallawahs, they must be mindful about that and, therefore, they need to work things out with him. It’s not good for the Tallawahs, it’s not good for the Jamaican people.”
Russell had said in his Instagram Live that he did not feel respected at Tallawahs, which he described as “the weirdest franchise that I have ever played in”. He also accused the leadership of poor communication.
“I think another franchise that has been coming last and fifth and fourth in CPL will appreciate me more,” he said.
Lewis has suggested that Tallawahs try to repair its relationship with Russell to keep him playing for his home franchise.
“I hope that they work it out so they can keep him and that we continue to enjoy and watch him play while he is performing at a high level, taking brilliant catches, running out people, hitting sixes. He is a winner. He is the number one T20 player in the world, and he is playing at home, and Jamaicans love to watch him play. We want to see him at least five times in the CPL every year,” he said.
Russell had also suggested he was not happy with the treatment meted out to Gayle, who turns 41 in September. The big hitter played his first four CPL seasons with Tallawahs and then turned out for the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2017 and 2018 seasons. He returned to Tallawahs in 2019 on a three-year contract, but the team ended the tournament bottom of the table, winning just two of 10 matches.
Speaking with the Gleaner, Perry said it would be very difficult to get a replacement for Gayle, and the focus now should be on getting the team “motivated, spirited, and ready to go”.
“What you want is 11 players, or 13 men who are going to die for each other out there,” he told the newspaper, adding that the public fallouts would not augur well for either the team or the sport.
“It doesn’t bode well for youngsters and people who are aspiring to play cricket to come into an environment like that. I think we need to be a little bit more responsible. We need to be a little bit more practical in what we do and what we say because a lot of people out there look up to people like those – the Sarwans, the Gayles, and the Russells. They have them as their mentors, and to hear all of this is not good for cricket.”
In addition to Gayle’s exit and Russell’s planned departure, Tallawahs head coach Donovan Miller and manager Andrew Richardson have left the team.
It is not certain whether there will be a CPL tournament this year, given the COVID-19 pandemic that has stalled sporting events across the globe, but franchises have been putting together their teams. (CMC)
