An official motorcade for Republic Caribbean Premier League (CPL) champions, the Saint Lucia Kings, will have to wait, according to officials.
Contrary to a flier that had previously circulated on social media platforms, celebratory activities will coincide with England’s tour of the West Indies in November, with an official date to be announced in the coming days.
During this period, non-Saint Lucian members of the Kings squad are expected to be present on the island. Additionally, the planning committee that facilitated Julien Alfred’s homecoming last month is expected to lead this initiative.
At the center of the celebrations will be Saint Lucian top-order batsman Johnson Charles. The Millet native gave a remarkable account of himself in this year’s tournament, amassing 454 runs and was instrumental in the team’s inaugural victory.
At an official press conference on October 10, Minister for Youth Development and Sports Kenson Casimir told reporters that officials from the government will still host the scheduled welcoming ceremony when Charles returns to the island on Friday afternoon.
“Johnson Charles is scheduled to return tomorrow at about 1:15 pm,” Casimir said. “[He] was not able to make the trip immediately from Guyana to Saint Lucia, as he had to undergo minor surgery. And so we had to welcome the balance of the Saint Lucians on Monday night. He is returning tomorrow at 1 o’clock between 1 and 1.15, and so the Honorable Prime Minister and members of cabinet, along with members from the Saint Lucia Cricket Association, the [Saint Lucia Tourism Authority], and other individuals will be welcoming him at the Vigie VIP lounge tomorrow.”
The Minister went on to detail why facilitators opted to push back the festivities.
“We really felt that we needed to ensure that we do this properly, that we have a proper sit-down with stakeholders and a proper date schedule, because we definitely don’t want to cheapen who Johnson Charles is to Saint Lucia,” Casimir noted.
“We know in terms of his historic nature to the development of cricket in Saint Lucia and of course his performance. He is currently the CPL’s leading run scorer, which means he is Saint Lucia’s best ever and we want to have something that shows our appreciation for him for that…
“We have to ensure that the future of our cricket is present and so we would want every single cricket team from primary schools and secondary schools to be involved. And for us to have done that by tomorrow, that would have presented a challenge.”
Saint Lucia Kings head coach Daren Sammy is presently in Sri Lanka leading the West Indies in a bilateral white ball series. The Kings team also included assistant coach John Eugene, as well as players Ackeem Auguste, Shadrack Descarte, and McKenny Clarke.
