West Indies’ Christopher Gayle. REUTERS / Punit Paranjpe, File
Caribbean Life, June 26-July 2, 2020 33
By Nelson A. King
A day before the players’
draft was scheduled to take
place, West Indies star batsman
Chris Gayle opted out of
the Caribbean Premier League
(CPL) for personal reasons.
The draft was expected to
take place on Thursday, June
24.
The tournament this year
is scheduled to take place in
Trinidad & Tobago from Aug.
18 until Sept. 10 subject to
permission from the local government,
according to ESPNcricinfo.
“Gayle communicated his
decision on Monday to St. Lucia
Zouks, the franchise he was
going to play for in this CPL,
saying he would not be available
to play due to personal
reasons,” said ESPNcricinfo on
Wednesday, adding that Gayle’s
decision was confirmed by the
Zouks franchise.
“It is understood that in his
email Gayle pointed out that
due to the lockdown, he has
not been able to meet his family
and his young child who are
in St. Kitts while he has been
in Jamaica,” ESPNcricinfo continued.
“Gayle said he needed
a break and wanted to spend
time with his young family.”
Gayle signed up with Zouks
in April after an acrimonious
fallout with Jamaica Tallawahs,
where he had returned in 2019
for a second stint, ESPNcricinfo
said, stating that the Zouks
would have been the third team
Gayle would represent in the
CPL after two stints with Tallawahs
(2013-16 and 2019) and a
two-year stay with St Kitts and
Nevis (2017-18).
The Zouks franchise saw a
change in ownership this February
after it was bought by
KPH Dream Cricket Private
Limited, which also owns
Kings XI Punjab in the IPL,
ESPNcricinfo said.
It said the franchise also
made changes to the coaching
staff, appointing former Zimbabwe
captain Andy Flower as the
head coach.
ESPNcricinfo said Gayle’s
abrupt decision is understood
to have disrupted Zouks’ plans
for the players’ draft, which
will be conducted virtually for
the first time due to the travel
restrictions imposed by countries
to arrest the spread of the
Covid-19 pandemic.
The Zouks signed up Gayle
as one of the marquee players
outside the draft in the
US$130,000 – 160,000 price
bracket, ESPNcricinfo said.
In his absence, it said the
franchise is likely to get the
first pick at the draft now.
ESPNcricinfo said it is not
clear whether Gayle’s decision
was influenced by the pay cut
proposed by the CPL in the
wake of the pandemic.
In an update he sent recently
to all stakeholders, the CPL
operations manager Michael
Hall said top-earning players
would be asked to take a pay
cut of up to 30 percent compared
to the 2019 contract,
according to ESPNcricinfo.
In Gayle’s case, it said he
would have received about
$112,000 after the 30 percent
proposed cut from the Zouks.
It is understood that players
and staff from all the six
franchises have accepted the
pay cuts although the CPL has
not sent out any details, ESPNcricinfo
said.
Gayle opts out of CPL 2020
for personal reasons
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