TORONTO: Cricket Canada on Thursday confirmed that the inaugural Global T20 league will take place between June 28 and July 15 this year.
The board alongside sports management firm, Mercuri Canada, revealed the mark, teams and venue for the league, which will be the first to be fully staged in North America. The matches will take place in Toronto’s Maple Leaf Cricket Club, which has a capacity of 7,000.
The league will have 22 matches, followed by an IPL-style playoffs and then the final, on July 16.
Top international players will make the marquee players list such as Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Shahid Afridi, Darren Sammy, Lasith Malinga, Steve Smith, Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, David Miller and Dwayne Bravo.
There will be 6 participating teams, 5 of which are from Canadian cities namely Edmonton Royals, Montreal Tigers, Toronto Nationals, Vancouver Knights and Winnipeg Hawks.
The sixth team will be a team sent by the Cricket West Indies, as Cricket Canada announced an official partnership with them. It is unlikely that players such as Gayle, Sammy, Bravo, Narine and Kieron Pollard will be selected in the team due to their contractual issues with the board.
The player draft will take place on May 31.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) President, Dave Cameron commented on the development. “On behalf of CWI, I would like to wish Global T20 Canada much success. The growth of our region will largely depend on the success of leagues and tournaments like this. We support Cricket Canada and look forward to working even closer going forward, so congratulations and all the best to Cricket Canada and Mercuri Group.”
Ranjit Saini, president of Cricket Canada, expressed his delight at the launch of the league, hoping that it matches the standards of the IPL and Big Bash. “Global T20 Canada marks the first time a nation with associate member status is launching a league – a major step forward in cricket’s global development.
“Canadian cricket fans will have a great opportunity to see up close many of the world’s greatest players, and I’d like to thank International Cricket Council, CWI and the international cricket community for their guidance and support in growing cricket in Canada.”
Cricket Canada will announce the league broadcast partners, broadcast schedule and ticket information in due course.
