Exhausted after a grueling Test tour of England to restart international cricket, beleaguered West Indies players and support staff faced extra delays returning home last month due to the wrath of Tropical Storm Gonzalo.
With the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) – the region’s T20 franchise tournament – imminent, players then had to quarantine on arrival in Trinidad and Tobago due to the island nation’s strict rules due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The logistical nightmare and mental fatigue are the new challenges facing professional cricketers in these grim times.
A gallant West Indies lost a riveting three-Test series played in Southampton and Manchester, where players and support staff stayed in the on-site hotels and followed strict bio-security measures. After a memorable first Test victory, the tired tourists fell away after spending 51 days confined essentially to cricket grounds.
“Mentally…playing cricket in bio-secure conditions is tough for cricketers and support staff,” Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief executive Johnny Grave told me during a phone interview. “Being in a bio-secure environment for seven weeks and then having to lockdown again has been very difficult. But they are professional sportsmen and back doing the job they love.”
Former West Indies fast-bowler and cricket commentator, Ian Bishop, is watching the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with bated breath, as he sees the tournament and as a proof of concept for cricket’s way forward.
Cricket has been at a virtual standstill, with a smattering of games being undertaken in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but according to Bishop, if a big tournament like the CPL can maintain its bio-security, then the world has a model from which it can re-start regular programming.
According to Bishop, the resources of England made it easier for that country to host the recent #raisethebat series against the West Indies but that the CPL would prove that even countries without those resources can also maintain the same kind of safety.
“We don't have as many resources, economically, to put into it, but our folks have been brilliant in utilizing the hotel and the staff, the protective forces in carrying out this bubble so far. We still have a month to go, but the end of that month, we will know even better how teams and countries and boards without the economic advantage can carry this out safely,” said Bishop.
International cricketers-turned-broadcasters Ian Bishop and Lisa Sthalekarhave stressed on the need for cricket boards to resume women’s cricket activities post the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the momentum that has been generated after the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia earlier this year isn’t lost.
Bishop was recently involved as a commentator for West Indies’ Test series in England, the first taste of international cricket during the pandemic. “It should give cricket boards and the ICC greater insight into how to carry this game out. Now the women’s game and the administrators can look at this without endangering anyone’s lives and say: we can play cricket safely,” Bishop said after the release of the documentary titled ‘Beyond the Boundary’ — on the T20 World Cup — by the International Cricket Council on an OTT platform on Friday.
So now it’s time to get on the bicycle and start putting things in place. We must look to drive it forward now. Even if it’s for bilateral tours, because we know that now we can do it safely.”
Sthalekar, the former Australia international, was pleased with the fact that the Women’s Big Bash League and the Women’s T20 Challenge are planned by Cricket Australia and the Board of Control for Cricket in India. While she admitted that the clash of both the tournaments in November isn’t ideal, she preferred to draw positives."
The Guyana Amazon Warriors have appointed Chris Green as their captain for the 2020 season. The Australian off-spinning all-rounder is back with the Amazon Warriors for the third year having first played for the Franchise in 2018, and he has taken 23 wickets at an average of 22 in his 23 matches for the team.
Green stood in as Captain during the 2018 season so this will be his second spell in charge of the Amazon Warriors. A firm fan favourite, Green was part of the Guyana team who finished as runners up at the Hero CPL in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons and he will be hoping he can lead the team to their first title in 2020.
Chris Green said: “I am hugely excited to be back with the Amazon Warriors for another season and honoured to be leading them for this season. Guyana is somewhere I am hugely fond of and we are very confident that this is the year that we can win the Hero CPL title for our amazing fans back home.”
Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is delighted to announce a full complement of sponsors for the 2020 event. Joining Title Sponsor Hero, and Official Partners Digicel, El Dorado Rum, Republic Bank and Dream11 are new major partners in Fun88 and Googly Esports.
The Hero CPL will be the first franchise T20 tournament to return since the lockdowns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and will take place behind closed doors in two stadiums in Trinidad & Tobago. All members of the CPL tournament bubble are now in the country and have tested negative for COVID-19.
The interest in the tournament this year is expected to pass the record numbers that were achieved in 2019 and the level of support from leading brands is another example of both this and the status that CPL has reached in the global cricketing calendar.
