St. Lucia Stars Appoint Shane Watson Captain; Daren Sammy Discarded After Poor Show

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Daren Sammy (left) and Shane Watson at a recent function at Coco Palm.

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a sudden move, the St. Lucia Stars have appointed Shane Watson as captain for the remainder of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2017.

After a poor string of matches (losing six in a row), the Stars (St. Lucia Stars full squad) have stripped Daren Sammy of captaincy but he will continue to be a part of the squad. West Indies T20 hero Marlon Samuels has been elevated to the role of vice-captain. The Stars are yet to win a match in this edition of CPL.

“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 Daren Sammy for his contribution as captain this season and throughout the last four editions of Hero CPL,” the Stars stated in an official release.

“Daren is a Saint Lucian icon and has been a fantastic servant of both Saint Lucian and West Indian cricket. The Stars management would like to stress that Daren 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,” the release continued.

Only four more games remain before the group stages, but the Stars management is hopeful that a change of guard will bring in fresh ideas: “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.

Sammy is the only captain to lead a side to two World T20 titles, while Watson leads Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.

Source: Cricket Country