Florida to host CPL matches under lights

Fri, Mar 4, '16

The first six Caribbean Premier League (CPL) matches to be played on US soil will include two games under floodlights at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida as well as two weekend double-headers to round out the league phase of the tournament, from July 28 to 31.

The CPL organisers announced plans last month to stage six matches in Florida for the upcoming season and sources had told ESPNcricinfo that the games would be held at some point in the final two weeks of July. An advanced copy of the schedule obtained by ESPNcricinfo shows that Guyana Amazon Warriors and Barbados Tridents will feature in the first match in Florida to be played under lights, on Thursday, July 28. The following day, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots will take on Trinbago Red Steel under lights again.

Night matches at the stadium are a major change after the ICC-certified facility initially failed to get clearance in 2010 to have T20Is between New Zealand and Sri Lanka played under floodlights due to a design flaw. The floodlights at the stadium were originally installed too close to the field, creating excessive shadows which were deemed a safety hazard for night time cricket. As a result, both those matches as well as the T20I series in 2012 between New Zealand and West Indies were scheduled for the day time.