St Lucia Zouks will make a comeback in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League after the recent ouster of St Lucia Stars from the seventh season of the tournament.
The franchise was formerly known as The Zouks when the league was launched in 2013. The Stars had come in place of The Zouks in 2016.
But last week, the CPL ended the participation agreement with Royal Sports Club LLC (an entity that operates the Saint Lucia franchise).
However, the CPL organizers had not given any particular reason behind their decision to remove St Lucia Stars from the cricketing event.
On Saturday, Jay Pandya, the chief executive and owner of Royal Sports Club LLC, said that he did not agree with the CPL statement. He also added that the franchise would work with the organizers to address any issue that may have come up.
“We completely disagree with the CPL press release and will be working to address any issues the CPL may have in an appropriate manner and forum,” Pandya said.
St Lucia Stars had never emerged champions in the league, and put up their best show in 2016, finishing in the third position.
In 2018, they finished fifth out of the six teams that had played, amassing seven points from ten matches. They had top-class Caribbean players in the team last year – Darren Sammy, Kieron Pollard, and Rahkeem Cornwall.
The main overseas players in the 2018 team included David Warner, Niroshan Dickwella and Mitchell McClenaghan, while this year they had roped in Lasith Malinga and Fawad Alam.
The 2019 CPL season is scheduled to begin on September 4, and the first match will be a face-off between Trinbago Knight Riders and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.
On September 5, St Lucia Zouks will lock horns with Guyana Amazon Warriors.
