VPL T10 set to become first cricket tournament involving international players of a Full Member team to be played amid COVID-19 crisis

The inaugural season of the VPL, a six-team tournament, will be played from May 22 to 31 at the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex in the eastern Caribbean country of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Hyderabad:Vincy Premier League, a franchise-based T10 tournament, will become the first tournament since March to be played involving international players of a Full Member team amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inaugural season of the VPL, a six-team tournament, will be played from May 22 to 31 at the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex in the eastern Caribbean country of St Vincent and the Grenadines, a leading cricket website reported.

The VPL will also become the first tournament where the players will not be allowed to use saliva on the ball, a measure being in consideration to stop the spread of novel coronavirus. The tournament will not be played before empty stands and will be open for fans as there are no restrictions imposed by the government in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In total, 30 matches will be played throughout the tournament, with three games scheduled per day. A total of 72 players were picked by the six franchises via a draft held on May 11.

VPL

The six participating teams in the augural VPL edition are Botanic Gardens Rangers, Grenadines Divers, Salt Pond Breakers, La Soufriere Hikers, Dark View Explorers and Fort Charlotte Strikers.

St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association (SVGA) will host the VPL. SVGA President Kishore Shallow, is also the vice-president at Cricket West Indies (CWI), said the tournament was put together in the last two weeks after he was approached by Dream 11. He then contacted CWI and sent in a formal request via the Windward Island Cricket Association (of which the SVGA is a member) 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 said.

"No player would be allowed to use any saliva on the ball.

"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," he added.

The Pacific nation of Vanuatu had beome the first country to resume cricket since the pandemic halted all sport in March. However, the VPL will be the first instance when the game will resume in a Full Member region comprising international players.