The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is set to be played between August 30 and September 30, with matches in St Kitts, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. On Wednesday, CPL and Cricket West Indies launched the 6IXTY, the newest format of cricket, which will play between August 24-28.
In an exclusive interview with CPL Head of Marketing, Chris Watson, he related that the CPL draft details would be announced very soon, and noted that the innovative 60-ball tournament, which will be played in St Kitts this year, would also come to Guyana in the future, and attract new audiences.
“The essence of the 6IXTY is to create more opportunities. CPL has been a big success in giving West Indians and overseas players a big platform to perform in front of a global audience and deliver benefits to the countries the tournament is being hosted. The 6IXTY is another way of doing that. We noticed the cricket is getting longer and slower, so the ideal is that the 6IXTY can capture younger audience,” Watson said.
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When asked what has been the response from overseas and local players, Watson said: “The response has been great. We are looking at 85-90% synergy with the CPL tournament squads and the 6IXTY. There will be a few players with clashes and in-availability, but a really strong roster of players both West Indian and overseas is expected.
This season, more emphasis is being placed on women’s cricket, with Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors, and Trinbago Knight Riders introducing women teams. These ladies will also be playing in the 60-ball tournament.
“The staging, broadcasting, and everything that we present for the men we want to throw…at the ladies, so we are excited to have the women involved. This is just the first step, and we want to grow this every year,” he said.
The CPL Head of Marketing, also disclosed that CPL wants more locations for the 6IXTY, which is more of a condensed weekend of cricket festivals. He also noted that this tournament will have more players available because of the condensed nature.
“Primarily, we want to grow it in the Caribbean, and then see where we can take it,” Watson has said.
In terms of the much-anticipated draft, Watson said: “I think we will be announcing that very soon. Fans will not have to wait too much longer. I know that is a big level of interest for fans. We want to make sure we got the announcement of the 6IXTY out of the way, and will be announcing the draft soon. Fans will not have to wait much longer, they will have all the relevant information about all the teams, schedule, ticketing, so they can plan look forward to the tournament,” Watson explained.
The first leg of the tournament will be played in St Kitts, followed by St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago, while the final stages will be in Guyana. Guyanese fans will be eagerly awaiting the semi-finals and final that will be hosted at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
