Trinidad and Tobago to host the semis and final of Caribbean Premier League

Caribbean Premier League

Port of Spain (Trinidad), February 10 (IANS)

Trinidad and Tobago have won the right to host the semi-final and the final of the 2015 Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

CPL chief executive officer Damien O' Donohoe also informed that the twin island republic has secured the rights ahead of competing venues – United States and Dubai. Trinidad and Tobago, home to the Red Steel franchise, will host seven matches in total, reports CMC.

“We actually had bids from outside of the Caribbean to host the finals but (Tourism Minister) Gerry Hadeed was insistent that we brought it back here to Trinidad and Tobago,” O'Donohoe said on Monday.

“It was actually two countries (that bid to host the semi-finals and final). One was going to be the United States and the next one was going to be in Dubai.”

O'Donohoe said that taking the competition into the US market remains a goal of the Twenty20 competition, which officials say has been growing in popularity after two seasons.

“We were in discussions to take some games over there, that is the future. I have always said and it was always part of the plan to take the CPL into the US because we believe we have the best platform and we all know if you can make any traction in the US, the scale that they have changes things considerably,” he explained.

The third edition of CPL will start slightly earlier this year, running from June 20 to July 26.

“We are going to have the top West Indies and international stars in Trinidad for two weeks so we have to come up with initiatives to make sure they get into the schools, into the summer camps,” said O'Donohoe.

“The CPL final is the Super Bowl of the Caribbean and you are going to have the biggest stars from the world of cricket and the biggest entertainers and big celebrity names.”