Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced yesterday that the West Indies 1st Class Cricket Championship 2022 will start tomorrow. It will mark the return of first-class cricket in the region since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CWI has unveiled the match schedule for the first two rounds of the West Indies Championship as part of a five-round tournament scheduled for the six teams.
The West Indies Championship marks not only a return of the regional red ball competition but also the opportunity for West Indian players to stake their claim for selection to the West Indies Test squad for the forthcoming Test Series between West Indies and England next month.The first and second rounds will be played in Barbados and Trinidad from tomorrow to Saturday; and from next Tuesday to next Friday.
Defending champions, Barbados Pride will the Leeward Islands Hurricanes in the first match at Kensington Oval, home team Trinidad and Tobago Red Force will host Jamaica Scorpions at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy at Tarouba in south Trinidad, while the re-named Guyana Harpy Eagles will play against the Windward Islands Volcanoes at Queens Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
In the second round, Barbados Pride will oppose Jamaica Scorpions at Kensington Oval, Barbados; Trinidad and Tobago Red Force will meet the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, and Guyana Harpy Eagles will play against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Queen’s Park Oval.
The last three rounds of the Championship are scheduled to be played in May.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, each squad will consist of 15 players.
CWI is also implementing a special “player loan” system to try to ensure that each team will be able to complete their fixtures. If a team has a player(s) ruled out due to a positive COVID-19 result, they can request to use a player(s) from another team and/or from a pool of locally registered reserve players.
