Pollard, Smith abandon Barbados Tridents for IPL teams

The Barbados Tridents, who last weekend won US$250,000 for beating the Guyana Amazons to clinch the Limacol Caribbean Premier League 2014 title, will soon be US$300,000 richer.

Or will they?

Whatever the answer, one suspects that team management would somehow be happier without the money and with their two major local players, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith, and Pakistani foreign professional Shoaib Malik in their ranks next month when the Champions League T20 2014 bowls off on September 13.

Photo: Trinidad and Tobago batsman Kieron Pollard will line up for the Mumbai Indians rather than Barbados Tridents in the Champions League T20.
Photo: Trinidad and Tobago batsman Kieron Pollard will line up for the Mumbai Indians rather than Barbados Tridents in the Champions League T20.

The trio were the major contributors to the Tridents’ CPL success, Pollard as captain if not so much as batsman (agg. 200, ave. 25), Malik (agg. 406, ave. 50.75) and Smith (agg. 353, ave. 44.12) with the bat. All three have, however, opted to represent other sides in the Champions League; Pollard will turn out for the Mumbai Indians while Smith and Malik will represent the Chennai Super Kings and Hobart Hurricanes respectively.


Unlike Malik, the Australian pair of George Bailey and David Miller have opted for the Kings XI Punjab over the Hobart Hurricanes. In fact, all eight IPL players selected by more than one team competing in this year’s edition of the lucrative tournament have chosen to represent their IPL franchise rather than their national domestic team.

Smith, Pollard, Malik and the two Aussies aside, Corey Anderson and Lasith Malinga will play for the Mumbai Indians instead of Northern Knights and Southern Express respectively and Pat Cummins and Jacques Kallis will play for the Kolkata Knight Riders and not the Perth Scorchers and the Cape Cobras.

All of these players were asked to indicate which side they preferred to represent and did so of their own free will. Once that was done, their “second” teams were permitted to replace them.

To replace the trio who have abandoned them, the Tridents have already named James Franklin, the left-handed New Zealand all-rounder who has played for the Guyana Amazon Warriors and for the Mumbai Indians, Dilshan Munaweera, the 25-year-old right-handed opening batsman and off-spinner from Sri Lanka, and Elton Chigumbura, the 28-year-old all-rounder from Zimbabwe.

Photo: Trinidad and Tobago cricket star Dwayne Bravo (right) will represent the Chennai Super Kings at the Champions League T20.
Photo: Trinidad and Tobago cricket star Dwayne Bravo (right) will represent the Chennai Super Kings at the Champions League T20.

According to CLT20 governing council member Dean Kino, “CLT20 regulations state that when a player elects to play for their ‘away’ team, that team must pay the ‘home’ team $150,000 compensation per player. A ‘home’ team is classified as a team from the country a player is eligible to represent in international cricket.”

And that is where the questions arise about whether the Tridents will in fact collect any monies for the loss of their star players.

Despite the national identification that precedes the name of each of the six teams in the CPL, if ex-Spalk Minister Anil Roberts was right, these are franchises and not “national” teams. It is therefore debatable whether under the existing rules the Tridents qualify to claim the relevant compensation.

The compensation issue does not arise for several other CPL players who will also be participating in the 2014 CLT20, the main leg of which takes place from September 17 to October 4 in four Indian cities, Raipur, Mohali, Hyderabad and Bangalore.


Two qualifiers to play in each of the two groups in the main draw will be determined in the qualifying stage, involving the Lahore Lions, Mumbai Indians, Northern Knights and Southern Express. This phase begins on September 13 and runs to September 16.

Along with Jamaica Tallawahs all-rounder Andre Russell, mystery spinner Sunil Narine, who was left out of the West Indies Test squad that went down 1-2 to New Zealand in June, has been included in the Kolkata Knight Riders line-up. KKR play their first CLT20 game on September 17, the scheduled last day of the Second Test between West Indies and Bangladesh.

Photo: Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer Sunil Narine (centre).
Photo: Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer Sunil Narine (centre).

Other West Indian players who will participate in the Champions League are West Indies ODI captain Dwayne Bravo, successful T&T Red Steel leg-spinner Samuel Badree and Guyana Amazon Warriors’ opener Lendl Simmons, who was the Player of the Tournament in the CPL.

The first two will both represent the Chennai Super Kings while Simmons, whose 447 aggregate was the highest of this year’s CPL but who has struggled in the first two ODIs against Bangladesh, will don the Mumbai Indians’ colours.

Barbados Tridents squad: Jonathan Carter, Elton Chigumbura Shane Dowrich, Rayad Emrit, James Franklin, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Kyle Mayers, Neil McKenzie, Jeevan Mendis, Dilshan Munaweera, Ashley Nurse, William Perkins, Ravi Rampaul, Raymon Reifer.

GROUP A: Kolkata Knight Riders, Dolphins, Perth Scorchers, Chennai Super Kings, qualifier A

GROUP B: Kings XI Punjab, Cape Cobras, Hobart Hurricanes, Barbados Tridents, qualifier B.

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About Earl Best

Earl Best taught cricket, French, football and Spanish at QRC for many years and has written consistently for the Tapia and the Trinidad and Tobago Review since the 1970's. He is also a former sports editor at the Trinidad Guardian and the Trinidad Express and is now a senior lecturer in Journalism at COSTAATT.

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75 comments

  1. So the Tallawahs didn’t get to go..not last year and not this year!

  2. So it would seem…
    “Trinidad & Tobago, who were the runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2009, have earned direct entry into the Group Stage this year after playing in the Qualifier in 2011 and 2012.” http://clt20.cricket.com.pk/

  3. Mel Sylvester TT played last year cause they won the last Caribbean T20 in January 2013 – so going by the order n tournament history, they had to play. CPL debut last year august as we all know & I’m very sure the organizers said the inaugural winner representing the Caribbean this year a C-League.

    So either CPL changed their position or the Jamaicans don’t realize they have been possibly given a raw deal…but who cares haa..

  4. Well Colin, Gayle and Santokie will be free!

  5. Kern A…. from what I remember, Tallawah’s won the CPL so they should have played in the CL..I don’t know how T&T went instead.

  6. Also I now recall Narine was kept out on NZ tests because he could not report for the 10 day camp b4 that series. Champs league final is on October 4th – 1st ODI vs India is on October 8th – SMDH…

  7. Mel Sylvester Well the other WI players in the CL such as Pollard, Smith are T20 specialist so won’t be picked for the B’Desh test. So too trident players Nurse, Carter, Hosein, Emrit, Dorwich, Myers, Perkins, Reifer – none will be picked.

    But Simmons (Mumbai) & Rampaul should be in the test squad vs B’desh – so this dumb C’league is about to cause a dumb selection headache.

  8. Mel Sylvester, T&T played in the 2013 version of the Champions League, so where does that leave the Tallawahs. I might be tired but not mad, lol . The Tallawah were supposed to be the qualifiers for the next version of the Champion League, which is this year 2014, this year. So now I am officially confused, lolhttp://www.espncricinfo.com/champions-league-twenty20-2013/engine/series/629521.html

  9. What about al the other WI players Colin Benjamin?

  10. Also I’d be interested to see what the WICB does with Narine this time. Kolkotta’s 1st game is during the 2nd test vs B’desh. Will they force him to miss the entire B’Desh series like the NZ one because of this clash – or will some sensible compromise be made?

    Dwayne Bravo also will be caught up in this mess…

  11. Shaoib Malik will not be playing with Tridents either as he will be playing with his club

  12. As i mentioned in the other link – KP & Smith was always going to play for their IPL team, we saw the same scenario repeat itself many times when Trini plays did the same – even when Anil Roberts tried to make them stay & play for TT, buy going to parliament for money to buy out their IPL contracts.

    But I’m not a fan of cricket’s strange champions league. Other than the fact that the winning team gets a big pay day, the tournament has no use in the international calendar, other than clogging it up with more unnecessary T20 cricket

    A next dumb thing about the champs league is the very strange situation where we have notable T20 players like Pollard, Narine, Bravo, A Morkel, Gayle, Malinga, De Villiers etc etc etc who globe trot worldwide, play in all the T20 leagues and in some cases help different teams qualify for the champs league.

    If we were to use football for comparison that is like all top football stars like Messi, Ronaldo, RVP, Rooney, Robben, Ribery, Xavi, Falcao, Iniesta etc etc jumping between La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, BPL etc in a season – help different clubs win their respective domestic leagues and qualify for a champs league placing – then at the end chose which teams they going to represent in C -League.

    Now that would be stupid dumb & that is what the is cricket champs league. Makes no sense and it really shouldn’t be in existence.

    As TT guardians Vinode Mamcham, the only Caribbean journalist who has been at the champions league, there is nothing “champions league” about this tournament.

  13. that is my point kern. if it was franchise with bears a franchise name.it has no re precussions.. but it does because it bear’s countries names~ nd that is where d problem lies~

  14. That’s why the CPL franchise made no sense imo….many of the players are already under IPL contracts

  15. I hear all your points re -francise David and they are very valid, but the issue Lasana brought up in the article was players abandoning their local clubs for IPL teams, this has always been the case. The franchise thing is whole different discussion, players were abandoning their countries/clubs fot IPL teams for quite a while now.

  16. The Championship’s League is not the T20 Tournament…

  17. Do you know that businesses are laundering money into some of these sports with the knowledge of governments? Ahhhh!!! And that is another reason why I don’t want countries’ names being used in the CPL…

  18. Been wondering the same thing Kern A. Spencer – I’m very sure the CPL said last year that the winner of 2013 CPL representing Caribbean champ league this year. Last year TT represented Caribbean obviously they won the last Caribbean T20 tournament. So Barbados should be going in 2015….so this is indeed a bitt strange

  19. Open the link I posted and you’ll see the names of all the team members..see how many West Indian players are there!

  20. David Aguillera I do agree with you.

  21. nope~Red force.. the money was going in to Trinidad and Tobago an grassroot cricket etc and development etc……where the cpl money going??? u tink all ah sudden TTCB get all deze developmental camps an trainning an equipments etc by begging like most administrations do?come on u should remember how TTCB use2be~~ but now where it is now??where d development where the programs etc??and they abandon TNT~yea only 2~ but the rest an what it brought to Trinidad and Tobago far out weight what it is now……and by the way~ that Team was a TNT and National Team.. so pride and Honor was in fact a mantra with them

  22. If Red Steel had won this year Bravo and Badree would not have been able to play for them in the Championship’s League..both of them play for Chennai Super Kings

  23. Because it is franchise cricket. Players are bought and sold. It has nothing to do with patriotism. It has to do with where the money is…

  24. Mel , I sleeping lol. having a rough weekend, can’t seem to recall Tallawahs in the Champions League, my brain needs rest, lol

  25. But David the Red Force and the T&T national team is the same thing. Players abandoned their country T&T for their IPL teams

  26. Last year Tallawah’s won the CPL and played in the Championship’s League Kern A. Spencer

  27. Indeed one of the reasons is that as professionals they will show no loyalty to a home side, but will go where the money is. That is franchise cricket. That is the business of sports. It is about big bucks.

  28. Kern A. Spencer the point she is making is if it was a franchise base team where the teams carries names that are not names of countries~ the abandon ment and disrespect meted out by these player;s choosing a next team rather dan the country name bear;s down on the country~!!! u tink anyone in Australia or england will say i go rather play for Chennai than england 3 lions in the ipl~ hell no cuz because they respect there nation and the name it bears~~~~~~~ not with ipl…or this farce of ah CPl crap.. where anyone cud…do what they please ..and use an play for the franchise that carries a nation’s name..and disrespect it~~ so wen ppl in INDIA OR ANY SUB ASIAN OR World club team fan’s shitting on we teams an saying Trinidad and Tobago is shit or Barbados is shit or Guyana is shit~ that my friend bears the down n the nation an not the franchise!! and that is just one point~

  29. In my humble opinion there are many reasons why the teams should not use the countries’ names.

  30. Pollard and Smith always knew that if they won they would not have been able to play for the team…so did all the other WI players who played in the CPL and had IPL contracts with the teams that made the finals of the Championship’s League

  31. Ok thanks,so the caribbean qualification for the Champions League via the CPL only started this year then.

  32. Here are the final squads for the 2014 tournament, to be played in India from 13 September to 4 October 2014 1http://www.clt20.com/news/2014/press-releases/1898/champions-league-twenty20-squads

  33. Abandon? Gone for more money. Wouldn’t you …if you had the chance?

  34. I somehow do so see what the team names in this CPL has to do with the players choosing to play for the IPL teams instead of the caribbean teams. When we were the Red Force they still chose the IPL , so how has this name thing in any way influenced their decisions.http://www.espncricinfo.com/fanzone/content/story/582178.html?comments=all

  35. Tallawahs won last year Kern A. Spencer…Tridents won the CPL last week which qualifies them for the 2014 Championship’s League

  36. That is why I have been totally against the use of the names of countries’ before the teams from inception. I have been expressing my feelings long before I heard Anil Roberts on the issue.

  37. yes it always so yt people jump up an bawl they reppin trini an international exposure an yadda yadda~ now what happen..they go to there ipl thems the cpl bosses making money of ah donkeys back them happy~ an cricket in westindies stagnate as usual~

  38. I stand to be corrected but isn’t it the Tallawahs that qualified for the 2014 version of the Champions league having won the CPL last year. But that aside this issue came up previously when Pollard et al chose to play for their IPL teams over the Red Force. There was a similar debate back then too.

  39. They did not abandon the Tridents! They always choose their IPL teams in the Champions League!!

  40. It was always so ! Players chose their IPL teams over the other’s

  41. Also I’d be interested to see what the WICB does with Narine this time. Kolkotta’s 1st game is during the 2nd test vs B’desh. Will they force him to miss the entire B’Desh series like the NZ one because of this clash – or will some sensible compromise be made?

  42. Ha ye KP & Smith was always going to play for their IPL team, we saw the same scenario repeat itself many times when Trini plays did the same – even when Anil Roberts tried to make them stay & play for TT, buy going to parliament for money to buy out their IPL contracts.

    But I’m not a fan of cricket’s strange champions league. Other than the fact that the winning team gets a big pay day, the tournament has no use in the international calendar, other than clogging it up with more unnecessary T20 cricket

    A next dumb thing about the champs league is the very strange situation where we have notable T20 players like Pollard, Narine, Bravo, A Morkel, Gayle, Malinga, De Villiers etc etc etc who globe trot worldwide, play in all the T20 leagues and in some cases help different teams qualify for the champs league.

    If we were to use football for comparison that is like all top football stars like Messi, Ronaldo, RVP, Rooney, Robben, Ribery, Xavi, Falcao, Iniesta etc etc jumping between La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, BPL etc in a season – help different clubs win their respective domestic leagues and qualify for a champs league placing – then at the end chose which teams they going to represent in C -League.

    Now that would be stupid dumb & that is what the is cricket champs league. Makes no sense and it really shouldn’t be in existence.

    As TT guardians Vinode Mamcham, the only Caribbean journalist who has been to the champions league mentioned in this 2013 article, there is nothing “champions league” about this tournament.

  43. We should send an all star team instead

  44. So can they pick up other stars from the other franchises.

  45. lmaooooooooooooooooooooo~~ n people say cpl is d future bwahahahaha~ well yess~~~~~this just prove the cpl 2 be a failure lol………..

  46. The entire tridents won US$250,000… meanwhile Mumbai Indians paying Pollard around $US 1 Million Dollars… So it’s not a hard choice really. Especially when he’s not from Barbados, it’s not like he’s putting country last.

  47. I’m assuming the IPL pays better.

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