All the games of the Caribbean Premier League 2020 can be played across two venues in Trinidad and Tobago.
The league organisers have approached Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley for permission to host all the CPL 2020 games across the Queen’s Park Oval and the Brian Lara Academy. An optimistic Government is reportedly seeking a clearance from the health authorities.
To minimise the threat of novel coronavirus, the CPL organisers are also considering to complete all the 34 matches in 25 days with daily double headers with the games starting at 10 am and 6 pm local time. The last edition of the league was played across 39 days.
The authorities plan to start the tournament by mid-August. The CPL 2020 was originally slated from August 19 to September 26.
Strictly-imposed lockdown has seen that the Caribbean Islands have been impacted relatively lesser by the COVID-19 virus than most of the other cricket-playing nations.
Tournament officials are also optimistic about foreign players joining the league.
CPL’s chief operating officer Pete Russell, according to ESPNcricinfo, has said that officials will hold a virtual meeting with Cabinet Ministers on Thursday to talk through details such as possible quarantine periods upon arrival in Trinidad, health protocols, and any assurances that need to be given.
“We’re ready to play,” Russell has told ESPNcricinfo. “If you get the second wave that everyone hopes won’t come, we’d be back to square one, but the only other thing that will derail us is the government not allowing us to play for safety reasons. It’s just a case of getting the green light from them.”
The organisers are planning to host all the six teams at the same hotel. With each team being restricted to one particular are to minimise the threat of the virus’ spread in case some player gets affected. Further, each team within its allotted areas will be divided into smaller groups with bare minimum physical proximity between different groups.
There remains little possibility to allow spectators into the grounds, but organisers are considering to have cheerleaders with strict social distancing norms.