The seventh edition of the T20 World Cup will be held in Australia from 18th October, 2020 to 15th November, 2020. 16 nations will participate in the mega tournament.
West Indies, the current world champions in the T20 format, are the only team to win the coveted trophy twice. The first time the men from the Caribbean won the T20 World Cup was in Sri Lanka in the year 2012. 4 years later, the West Indies once again were crowned champions in the T20 format in India.
At present West Indies are ranked 10th in the T20 ICC Men's rankings. However, the team has been making progress in the recent past under the leadership of Kieron Pollard. They recently beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka by a margin of 2-0 in a T20 series.
Most of the players in the West Indies squad have ample experience playing T20 cricket in leagues around the world. Many players from the Caribbean have played the Big Bash League over the years and are well versed with the grounds in Australia.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Cricket West Indies (CWI) today confirmed that the Barbados Pride have been declared winners of the 2020 West Indies Championship (Four-Day), following a Board of Directors teleconference held this afternoon. Acting upon the advice of the CWI Medical Advisory Committee, a decision was made to cancel the last two rounds of matches in the first-class season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Barbados Pride top of the points table after the eighth round, the Board unanimously agreed to award the Headley/Weekes Trophy to Barbados (Trophy is named in honour of West Indies pioneers and icons George Headley and Sir Everton Weekes).
TT RED Force announced themselves to the world of T20 cricket in the late 2000s, when they finished runners-up to Guyana in the 2006 Stanford 20/20 tournament in Antigua, and followed up with a nine-wicket victory in the 2008 final.
As regional champs, the Red Force competed in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament (2009) in India, but they were beaten by New South Wales of Australia, by 41 runs, in the title decider.
That era saw TT dominate regional T20 cricket, as they claimed a hat-trick of titles (2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13) before the West Indies Cricket Board (now Cricket West Indies) introduced the Caribbean Premier League in 2013.
On Tuesday, in separate interviews, Colin Borde, manager of the 2009 squad, and captain Daren Ganga reminisced on the Red Force’s campaign at the Champions League.
In light of recent media reports and as the effects of the COVID-19 virus impacts people around the world there has been some understandable speculation with regard to the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season which is scheduled to take place from 19 August to 26 September 2020.
CPL has been in constant communication with our medical advisors in recent weeks, as well as speaking with Cricket West Indies about the current situation with regard to cricket around the world, and at present there has been no discussion about moving the event.
CPL believes it is too early to make such a decision, but this is an evolving situation and we are carefully watching how events unfold in the Caribbean and around the world.
At present the CPL team are planning for the tournament to take place as scheduled whilst also looking at alternative plans should they be needed.
Our thoughts at this time are with the many CPL fans, players and staff from around the world who have been impacted by this crisis and we hope that they and their families stay safe and healthy.
West Indies batting legend, Brian Lara sees quite a bit of talent in the Windies squads currently hunting for a resurgence in world cricket but there is still work to be done.
Lara, speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, for instance, believes talented 23-year-old Shimron Hetmyer has personal issues like his fitness that he needs to deal with before he is quite ready to take the world by storm.
“People have challenges in different ways and Hetmyer, obviously, is a very talented cricketer, someone who plays all forms of the game for the West Indies. If he is unfit, he has to see it as a personal challenge. Fitness levels are so very important. So if fitness is his problem, I would like to see him face that challenge himself, and he’ll be a much better cricketer,” said Lara.
