(CMC) – Organisers yesterday confirmed the dates for this year’s ninth edition of the Cricket Premier League, with the Twenty20 showpiece set to run for just over three weeks.
The tournament bowls off August 28 and will wrap on September 19, and will be staged in its entirety for the first time in St Kitts and Nevis.
Organisers had previously confirmed the start date and chief operations officer, Pete Russell, said with the confirmation of the official window, the league was now poised to execute.
“It is really exciting to have the tournament window for 2021 confirmed and I would like to thank the St Kitts & Nevis government for agreeing to host this year’s event,” Russell said.
“We would also like to extend our thanks to Cricket West Indies for helping us create this window in a busy summer of cricket for them.
“We are looking forward to once again successfully staging the Hero CPL in 2021.”
Organisers have been steadily ramping up preparations for the tournament since the announcement of the venue nation last month, with several franchises announcing their lists of retained players for the upcoming season.
Trinbago Knight Riders will be defending the title they won last year when they marched through the tournament unbeaten.
Last week, the tournament director of operations, Michael Hall, said organisers were busy formulating plans and coordinating with officials in St Kitts, to ensure the groundwork was properly laid.
“It was a little bit more than two weeks ago that we actually got confirmation that the government of St Kitts and Nevis were going to allow us to host the tournament,” Hall said.
“Of course we would’ve been doing some background work before the confirmation came and … yes we’re on track, because we’re now obviously full steam ahead trying to put everything in place that has to be put in place.”
For the second straight year, the tournament will be played in a bio-secure bubble to mitigate against the threat of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
However, with St Kitts currently enjoying a COVID-free environment with no active cases, government has indicated a possibility of fans being allowed at the Warner Park venue.
Last year, the tournament was staged in Trinidad and Tobago at the height of the pandemic with no fans allowed.
