Caribbean Premier League
Caribbean Premier League: participating teams
Caribbean Premier League - all about the tournament
The Caribbean Premier League, also known as CPL or CPLT20, is a Twenty20 series cricket tournament held in the Caribbean. The first league matches were held in 2013, after which the competition was consolidated in an annual format. Today we will tell you about the history of the CPL, the format of the tournament and the participants of the league.
Caribbean Premier League: the history of the CPL
Twenty20 cricket competitions were first organized in the West Indies in 2006; the key event was the Stanford 20/20 tournament. Unfortunately, the competition was not destined to find a rich history – the tournament was developed and funded by Allen Stanford, a rich businessman with dual citizenship. In 2008, the sponsor was charged with fraudulent laundering of business schemes, as a result of which Stanford was imprisoned in 2009, and the tournament was no longer held.
The replacement for the closed Stanford 20/20 was the CPLT20 – Caribbean Twenty20 tournament. At that time, the launch of the competition had two goals:
- To fill the gap left by Stanford 20/20 in the Twenty20 format competitions.
- To coincide CPLT20 with the 2010 Twenty20 Champions League tournament. According to the terms, the best Caribbean Twenty20 team got the opportunity to represent the West Indies at an international tournament.
In 2012, the WICB first announced plans to hold the Caribbean Twenty20 as a large-scale tournament with investors, its own structure and a stable schedule of competitions. The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) and the West Indian Players’ Association (WIPA) were involved in discussing the issues.
As a result of negotiations, the founder of Verus International, Ajmal Khan, was chosen as the sponsor of the Caribbean Premier League, and the CPL itself was launched in 2013 (from July 29 to August 26).
Caribbean Premier League: CPLT20 format
Six teams take part in the Caribbean Premier League. First, the clubs pass the group stage, where they play ten matches: three at home and seven away. The best teams then advance to the playoff stage, which includes two semi-finals and a final.
As a rule, stadiums are used for the game, which are the home fields of the participating teams of the Caribbean Premier League:
- Sabina Park (Jamaica Tallawahs Stadium (Jamaica) with a capacity of 20,000 spectators);
- Warner Park (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots Stadium (Saint Kitts) with a capacity of 18,000 spectators);
- Darren Sammy Stadium (St Lucia Stars Stadium (Saint Lucia) with a capacity of 15,000 spectators);
- Central Broward Regional Park (Jamaica Tallawahs Stadium (USA) with a capacity of 20,000 spectators);
- Queen’s Park Oval (Trinbago Knight Riders Stadium (Trinidad) with a capacity of 20,000 spectators);
- Brian Lara Stadium (Trinbago Knight Riders Stadium (Trinidad) with a capacity of 15,000 spectators);
- Kensington Oval (Barbados Tridents Stadium (Barbados) with a capacity of 15,000 spectators);
- Providence Stadium (Guyana Amazon Warriors Stadium (Guyana) with a capacity of 15,000 spectators).
Traditionally, the CPLT20 playoff stage takes place at Queen’s Park Oval and Brian Lara Stadium.
CPL participating teams
As mentioned earlier, six teams compete in the Caribbean Premier League. Each team consists of 15 players, five of whom can be bought out by representatives of other countries (have international status) and four cricketers under the age of 23. At the moment, the CPL consists of the following clubs:
- Barbados Tridents;
- Guyana Amazon Warriors;
- Jamaica Tallawahs;
- St Kitts & Nevis Patriots;
- St Lucia Zouks;
- Trinbago Knight Riders.
Also, the Antigua Hawksbills team took part in the tournament earlier.
Caribbean Premier League: sponsors
Like any other major tournament, the Caribbean Premier League has its own sponsors. The first season of the competition (in 2013) was sponsored by the Caribbean mobile communication network Digicel. It is worth noting that CPL was not the first project for the brand – the company regularly sponsors a lot of sports events throughout the Caribbean region.
«The CPL is a perfect fit for Digicel. We’re huge fans of West Indies cricket, and this is a great opportunity for us to invest not only in what will be an amazing event but also in the young cricketers who will benefit from around the region,” says Digicel Marketing Director Kieran Foley.
In the future, the Limacol brand, the well-known Courts trademark, as well as El Dorado Rum were added to the number of sponsors of the tournament.
