BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: India’s tour of West Indies, initially slated to start immediately after the conclusion of ICC World Cup 2019 in England and Wales, has been rescheduled by Cricket West Indies (CWI) following a request by the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI).
According to local media reports, the dates for the lengthy tour, comprising two Test matches, three One-day Internationals and three T20 Internationals, will be finalised by CWI in their board meeting on May 13.
Reports further note that the tour, in all likelihood, will begin from the first week of August and continue till September 4.
It bears noting that as per the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Future Tours Programme, the Indian team were slated to embark on their tour of West Indies right after the World Cup, which ends on July 14.
Moreover, the BCCI has requested CWI to include a three-day warm-up match during the India tour. India A will also be playing three four-day matches in West Indies prior to the senior team’s tour game. A final schedule for all the tours will be finalised at the CWI Board meeting in two weeks.
No CPL games in US, less intl players
None of this year’s CPL games will be held in the United States, due to a poor turn-out of spectators.
This was revealed during a media conference recently by CPL chief operating officer Pete Russell, who said poor crowd support was the reason for the change to the competition which begins in September.
During the 2018 CPL, three games were played at the Central Broward Regional Stadium in the city of Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
In addition, teams can only pick five international players this year and can only play four in their starting line-ups.
Russell said the decision to chop the number of international players allowed in each team was in an effort to maintain the “Caribbean-ness” of the tournament.
The additional two players allowed last year will come from a West Indies development squad. The development squad is to be chosen by the Cricket West Indies selection panel.
In keeping with the idea of pushing development, at least one of those players will have to be part of any starting line-up the franchises choose.
This year, the CPL will bowl off in September for the first time. As per the revised dates, the league will be hosted from September 4 and October 12.
Russell said with the Windies set to host India between during July and August, the move to push back the competition was to ensure the availability of all West Indian players.
“The September month allows us a clean window of action because we want all of our West Indian stars available,” he said.
“We are pleased that we have been able to collaborate with CPL to find a spot in our international calendar to ensure that all the best Caribbean cricketers can take part, as the tournament plays a crucial role in our preparations and planning for the T20 World Cup in 2020,” CWI’s chief executive officer Johnny Grave said in a statement issued by CPL.
