CPL officials confident as COVID-19 swirls
Caribbean Premier League (CPL) organisers are poised to make history today when they stage the first-ever bio-secure Twenty20 franchise tournament amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and officials are confident Trinidad has the ability to pull off the showpiece despite mounting public health challenges.
The CPL will be the first set of high-level cricket to be held in the Caribbean since the outbreak of the virus forced the halt of the domestic first-class championship after eight of the 10 rounds last March, and then forced the postponement of all scheduled international home tours.
With a limitation on regional travel due to country lockdowns, the tournament will be staged exclusively at Queen’s Park Oval in the capital and the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, in the south of the island.
Last weekend, government announced a new 28-day lockdown which started Monday to mitigate against a new spike in infections, but assured the CPL would go ahead as planned owing to the bio-secure environment created over the last three weeks.
Players will be subjected to rigorous protocols throughout the tournament.
All 33 games of the August 19 to September 10 tournament will be played behind closed doors and under strict social distancing and other health protocols, as prescribed by the Trinidad and Tobago government.
FOCUS OF THE TOURNAMENT
And Douglas Camacho, chairman of the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago, said the focus of the tournament would be on preserving the integrity of the bio-secure bubble which will see players, staff and administrators housed at one hotel, transported securely to and from venues on training and match days, without interaction with the general public.
He also explained that strict social distancing guidelines would be enforced at venues to keep players and stadium staff apart.
“All the players, officials, everybody are in basically bio-bubbles, the Hilton Hotel which is the residential bio-bubble,” Camacho told i95FM Sports.
All 162 players, staff and administrators tested negative for COVID-19 before arrival here and subsequently twice returned negative tests during quarantine, to be cleared for involvement in the tournament.
Reigning champions Barbados Tridents will launch the defence of their title when they take on St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at 5:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m Ja time), in the second match of a double-header at the Brian Lara Stadium.