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According to a statement from the CPL, all those who travelled into Trinidad for the tournament have now returned four negative tests and local residents, who have entered the Hero CPL bubble have tested negative for the second time.
“We are very pleased that the plans we put in place in order to make this tournament happen under the most testing of circumstances have meant that we have cricket taking place on the field,” said Hero CPL’s Tournament Operations Director Michael Hall.
“As everyone around the world knows, the key now is remaining vigilant and making sure the protocols that we put in place are followed. We are delighted to have got the cricket underway.”
The tournament organisers will carry out further tests throughout the event while also maintaining stringent social distancing protocols to ensure that both they and the wider public in Trinidad & Tobago remain safe and healthy.
According to the latest information players earning between US$21,000 and US$112,000 will receive a salary 30 percent lower, when compared to last season. Players in the US$20,000 bracket will receive a 10 percent pay cut with no salary cut for players below that bracket.
The entire tournament is expected to take place in Trinidad and Tobago, with players staying in the tournament hotel under conditions overseen by a medical advisory committee and matches played in empty stadiums.
CPL Operations manager Michael Hall claimed the devastation caused by the spread of the coronavirus had made the idea to stage the tournament a trick decision. But felt it was important to send a message that the region is ready to do business again.
"Should the tournament take place it will take place entirely in Trinidad & Tobago, which is the most successful country in the Caribbean in controlling the spread of the virus - recording just one new case since April 30 and just 117 total cases overall," Hall, the CPL wrote in an update sent to various stakeholders, quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"One of the consequences the Covid-19 pandemic will have is that the CPL will be played behind closed doors in 2020. We were therefore faced with the very difficult decision of whether to play the tournament at all,” he added.
"[But] we also felt strongly that it is important for cricket to be seen to be getting underway again as well as to show the world that the Caribbean is open for business.”
Hall added that the executive expected to get approval from the Trinidad and Tobago government next week. The tournament will be held from August 1 to September 12, with the first matches on August 18 and the final on September 10.
This year’s staging, which had initially been in doubt due to the global coronavirus outbreak, was eventually staged in Trinidad and Tobago in a biosecure environment, without fans. The Trinbago Knight Riders created history by being the first team to claim the title without losing a match.
Things, however, did not go off without a hitch. Many spectators took issue with the standard of play at the low-scoring tournament, while many players struggled with the quarantine requirements and conditions of the heavily used pitches. Hall, while accepting that there were challenges and admitting that he was eager to see things return to normal, believed things went reasonably well.
“I think by any measure, this year, the Caribbean Premier League was a resounding success for the simple reason that we were able to do what we did, stage the tournament successfully, have some decent cricket played despite the fact that a number of cricketers would have been rusty,” Hall told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“To pull it together, to stage it, to have it successfully completed without anyone testing positive for the virus throughout that entire almost eight-week period, anyone that tries to tell me the Caribbean Premier League was not a success this year, I am having none of it,” he added.
Despite no fans being in the stadium, this season's CPL was the most viewed tournament in the history of the competition.
With the region and globe disrupted by the effects of the coronavirus this year’s edition of the tournament will be held in Trinidad and Tobago. The event, which will get under way August 18, will be played in a bio secure environment and without fans, which Hall admits is a big challenge.
“We will be no different than any other sporting event that has taken place since the pandemic. Is it going to be the same, ‘absolutely not’,” Hall told the Mason and Guest radio program.
The CPL has throughout the years being known for vociferous fans, which some speculate might affect the intensity level of the cricket played.
“I don’t know how much of a factor (no spectators) that is in players performances. I’ve always heard that the really great athletes shut out the crowd and focus, so I don’t know. But are we going to miss the fans, absolutely there are the lifeblood of the tournament,” he added.
“We are still having the tournament though, fans or no fans. I know for a fact based on feedback. Based on feedback, these are things that we track, the anticipation for our global viewing audience has almost trebled. There have been people reaching out to ask where we can watch it, saying we are dying to watch it and that is only good for the league.”
The CPL will be the first T20 tournament played since the start of the pandemic.
The list of 20 players has been provided by CWI and includes five of the players who did so well for West Indies during the recent ICC under 19 World Cup in South Africa.
Kimani Melius, Jayden Seales, Ashmead Nedd, Nyeem Young and Kirk McKenzie are in with a chance to show what they are capable of, this time at the CPL.
There are also seven players on the list who appeared at last year’s CPL in these developmental spots – Amir Jangoo (Trinbago Knight Riders), Leniko Boucher (Barbados Tridents), Jeavor Royal, Roland Cato (St Lucia Zouks), Dominic Drakes (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Shamar Springer (Jamaica Tallawahs) and Keagan Simmons (Guyana Amazon Warriors). The teams can choose to retain these players, or they can draft or sign another player from the list.
There will be two spots in each squad set aside for these players, meaning there will be a minimum of 12 West Indies qualified players aged under 23 taking part in the CPL.
Each team will have to field an emerging player a minimum of five times across the tournament, either one player making five appearances or five combined appearances between the two players. This means not only will they get the experience of training with the best players and coaches from across the Caribbean and from around the world, they will also be given the chance of playing in the CPL.
“The CPL takes its mandate of providing meaningful opportunities for the next generation of West Indies cricketers very seriously, and we are happy to have again collaborated with Cricket West Indies on the Emerging Players initiative. It is now up to the players to make the most of it,” said Michael Hall, CPL’s Tournament Operations Director.
Jimmy Adams, CWI’s Director of Cricket expressed his pleasure at the continuation of the programme.
“I am delighted that the Emerging Player program will continue into its second season, as it allows us to once again identify our best young talent and provide them with a program that will hasten their step up to the professional game,” he said.
“We have selected another talented group of young regional cricketers, out of which 12 players will be drafted into the CPL - two per franchise. This group will also have the benefit of participating in a specialized high-performance camp in Antigua prior to going off to the tournament. Later in the year, the program will again be using the Super 50 Cup to provide a competitive One-Day environment for the best young regional talent that would not otherwise get an opportunity within the franchise system.
“I am grateful to the CPL and the franchise owners for their continued support to develop our young talent.”
The full list of players is as follows: Alick Athanaze (Windwards), Joshua Bishop (Barbados), Leniko Boucher (Barbados), Keacy Carty (Leewards), Roland Cato (Windwards) Joshua da Silva (Trinidad), Dominic Drakes (Barbados), Amir Jangoo (Trinidad), Nicholas Kirton (Barbados), Mikyle Louis ( Leewards), Kirk McKenzie (Jamaica), Kimani Melius (Windwards), Ashmead Nedd (Guyana), Jeavor Royal (Jamaica), Jayden Seales (Trinidad), Keagan Simmons (Trinidad), Kevin Sinclair (Guyana), Shamar Springer (Barbados), Bhaskar Yadram (Guyana), Nyeem Young ( Barbados).
They are now in quarantine in the official hotel for 14 days during which time they will be tested regularly.
If any member of the party is found to have contracted the virus they will be removed from the hotel and placed in further isolation in accordance with the current protocols in Trinidad & Tobago, but as of now all those who have arrived in Trinidad & Tobago are free from COVID-19.
“It has been a colossal effort by all involved to get everyone safely into Trinidad & Tobago and we would like to thank everyone for their hard work and diligence,” said Tournament Operations Director Michael Hall.
“Our main priority is the health and well-being of all those involved in CPL and the wider population in the host country, to have got through this first step without any cases is encouraging news, but we will remain vigilant.”
The 2020 season gets underway on August 18 and will see 33 games played at two venues in Trinidad. The first match will see last year’s runners-up, the Guyana Amazon Warriors take on the Trinbago Knight Riders. The final will take place on September 10.
