The first regional Twenty20 tournament since the lucrative Stanford Series ended with the imprisonment of its sponsor in the United States on “massive fraud” charges has been scheduled by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) from July 22 to 31.
Although venues are still to be announced, Barbados and Guyana have been reportedly chosen for matches to be played under floodlights and televised live throughout the Caribbean. The seven regional teams – Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago – along with either Canada or the United States will be divided into two groups in a round-robin format leading to semi-finals, third place play-off and final.
As with the Stanford event, the winners would qualify for the second Champions League in South Africa September 10-26 with US$2.5 million for the winners. The 2008 Stanford champions, Trinidad and Tobago, reached the final of the inaugural tournament last year where they lost to the New South Wales Blues.
The WICB stated in its promotional booklet, “Transforming West Indies Cricket”, last month that prize monies would be confirmed “after discussions in the market place with potential sponsors and broadcasters”.
The regional first-class and 50-overs-an-innings competitions have both been staged over the past two seasons without sponsorship.
It was originally expected that the two finalists in the WICB Twenty20 would qualify for the 2010 Champions League but that has been reduced from 12 to 10 teams.
The England Cricket Board (ECB), represented by Somerset and Sussex last year, is sending no team this time because the League clashes with the end of its domestic season.
There will be no team after Pakistani players attracted no bids at last season’s Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.
Those already qualified are: Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians,and Royal Challengers Bangalore (India), Victorian Bushrangersand South Australian Redbacks (Australia), Warriors and Highveld Lions (South Africa), Central Stags (New Zealand) and Wayamba Elevens (Sri Lanka).
