Vincy Premier League set to begin on May 22nd

BY KAYLA KARIM

As many countries are still under lockdown, cricket fans across the globe have been waiting to see live action of their favourite stars since March. However, they will not have to wait much longer for a competitive cricket match. The Vincy Premier T10 League will resume on May 22^nd, 2020. At the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex, the VPL will be open for fans since the government in West Indies has not enforced any strict regulations with less than twenty Coronavirus cases in St Vincent and the Grenadines. To limit the potential spread of the virus, the ICC has proposed a ban in which the players will be unable to use saliva for shining the ball.

Kishore Shallow, president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association (SVGA) said, “No player would be allowed to use any saliva on the ball,” he said. “Of course, we will be having different dedicated, assigned spaces around the players’ pavilion for teams so that they are not necessarily crowded together. All teams would have their own space where they could practise physical distancing.”

Kishore Shallow put together the VPL in the last two weeks after sources at ESPNcricinfo reported that Dream 11, an Indian-based sports technology company, approached him. He then alerted the Cricket West Indies, where Shallow is the vice president, and sent in a formal request asking for the VPL to be sanctioned.

“We have formally written to CWI. And I expect to get a positive response from them soon,” Shallow told ESPNcricinfo.

According to Shallow, there were a total of eighteen positive cases of COVID-19 in St Vincent and the Grenadines as of last week, ten of which has successfully recovered. Shallow then encouraged the local government and ministry of health that the players would not be “exposed to the public” and all necessary precautions as advised by the government will be followed. Shallow said that the government “endorsed” the tournament and ensured that in addition to having additional short breaks, players would be asked to use hand sanitizers.

There are “no formal limitations in terms of social gatherings” that were imposed by the local government, according to Shallow however he is still asking spectators to do their part and social distance on their own.

A total of 72 players were picked by the six franchises via the draft that commenced on May 11^th, 2020. Thirty matches will be played, with three games scheduled per day – which will all be streamed live. Six marquee players including three West Indies players – Kesrick Williams, Sunil Ambris and Obed McCoy.

Matches have been arranged for an unusual time, being 8:30am local time and go on to 2pm so that they are able to capture the Indian audience where Dream 11 has its wide user base. With the uncommon times, Shallow does not anticipate massive crowds at the matches. The line-up of the teams are:

• Botanic Gardens Rangers – Kesrick Williams (marquee); Nixon Mclean (coach)
• Grenadines Divers – Obed McCoy (marquee); Ian Allen(coach)
• Salt Pond Breakers – Sunil Ambris (marquee); Olanzo Jackson (coach)
• La Soufriere Hikers – Desron Maloney (marquee); Irvin Warrican (coach)
• Dark View Explorers – Lindon James (marquee); Bertram Stapleton (coach)
• Fort Charlotte Strikers – Keron Cottoy (marquee); Kenroy Martin (coach)