Darren Sammy sacked as St. Lucia Stars skipper

After the string of losses in the ongoing edition of Caribbean Premier League, St Lucia Stars have sacked Darren Sammy as their skipper. Shane Watson has been named the new captain for the remainder of the season and Marlon Samuels would be his deputy.

St. Lucia, this season have been very poor and not been able to register a single victory in six matches and are languishing at the bottom of the table. Their hopes of qualifying for playoffs are already thrashed and need some special performances in the upcoming matches to restore parity. Darren Sammy, despite leading West Indies to World T20 title twice, hasn’t been able to inspire his players and at times looked helpless.

Here’s what the statement has to say

St. Lucia released a statement confirming the news and thanked Darren Sammy for his contribution as the leader of the pack from the inaugural edition. “After six successive defeats in the 2017 season, the time is right to make a switch in leadership and incorporate some fresh thinking as the team completes this season and builds for 2018. The Stars management would like to take this opportunity to thank Darren Sammy for his contribution as captain this season and throughout the last four editions of Hero CPL,” the statement read.

However, the franchise has also confirmed that the former Windies skipper will remain the vital part of the squad. “Darren is a St. Lucian icon and has been a fantastic servant of both St. Lucian and West Indian cricket. The Stars management would like to stress that Darren remains an important part of the St. Lucia Stars squad and his performances with both bat and ball will be vital for the rest of the 2017 tournament and in the future.”

Stars’ Owner’s view on the decision

“If it were not for Darren, St. Lucian cricket would not have the standing it does in world cricket and his ability to lead both on and off the field remains unquestioned. However, after the results that we have seen over the first half of the 2017 Hero CPL, a change is needed to freshen things up as we look to win the remaining four fixtures this season,” said Stars’ owner Jay Pandya explaining the step to sack Sammy.

Shane Watson would be keen to take up this challenge and bring his side back to the winning ways. Though, he himself has not had a great season as he has scored a mere 44 runs in four matches and has to lead by an example now to instill confidence in the team.