Trinidad & Tobago gives formal nod for hosting CPL 2020

Trinidad & Tobago Government has given a formal go ahead to stage the entire Hero Caribbean Premier League 2020 season in the country. The agreement between the Government and the Hero CPL clears the decks to run the league from August 18 to September 10.

The CPL will have a full season and will feature overseas and Caribbean players with the standard higher than it has ever been with the likes of Rashid Khan, Chris Lynn, Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Alex Hales and Kieron Pollard all set to take part.

One of the biggest entertainers of professional league cricket, Chris Gayle has opted out of the Hero CPL due to personal reasons.

The matches will be played at two venues – the Queen’s Park Oval and the Brian Lara Stadium.

Last year’s CPL had a combined broadcast and digital viewership of 312 million. With the tournament being the first franchise T20 event to take place across several months there will be more interest than ever.

The CPL organisers have worked with the Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Health and the CPL’s own board of medical advisors to create protocols which minimize risk of transmission of the COVID-19 virus to the population of Trinidad and in amongst those who will be travelling to Trinidad & Tobago from overseas, stated a Press release.

Pete Russell, COO of Hero CPL, said: “We would like to express our gratitude and thanks to The Hon. Dr. Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, The Hon. Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister for Sport and Youth Affairs, The Hon. Terrence Deyalsingh, Minister for Health, Dr. Roshan Parasram, Chief Medical Officer for Trinidad & Tobago, Douglas Camacho, Chairman of Sport TT and their respective ministries and organisations for their support and guidance in making this all possible.

“We are really excited to bring high class cricket to the Caribbean and to the rest of the world. The standard of players involved in this year’s tournament will be higher than ever and we can’t wait to get the tournament under way.”

All teams and officials will be housed in one hotel and everyone will be subject to strict quarantine protocols for the first two weeks they are in the country. Everyone travelling from overseas will be tested for COVID-19, before departure and then again on arrival in Trinidad.

Teams and officials will be put into “households” where social distancing will need to be in place. There will be smaller clusters within each household where these measures can be relaxed.

If any member of this cluster display signs of COVID-19 at any time during the tournament all members of that cluster will be expected to self-isolate for a period of 14 days from the time that a member of that group first shows symptoms.

All members of the CPL party will be subject to regular temperature checks and will be re-tested for the virus throughout their stay in Trinidad and again before departure.

Admin Sportz Front

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