In a major boost to Canadian Cricket, the inaugural “Global T20 Canada” league was officially announced by Cricket Canada, in collaboration with Mercuri Group, who have conceptualised and designed the franchise based T20 format for them and will also manage the tournament.
The tournament has been officially sanctioned by International Cricket Council (ICC) and the inaugural edition will be held from 28th Jun – 16th Jul, 2018, with matches to be held across three venues, Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club, Sunnybrook Park and Maple Leaf Cricket Club in Toronto.
A 25-year Master Licensing Agreement between Mercuri Talent Management Pvt Ltd and Cricket Canada will also see investments in the domestic structure of Canadian Cricket with focus on development of the sport at the grassroots level in the country and setting up of National and Regional High Performance Centres.
Six franchise teams will compete in the inaugural edition with the option for addition of 2/3 more teams in the future. All teams will be made up of 15 squad members each, who will be picked up from the player draft, scheduled to be held on 26th May 2018.
Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini said: “Twenty20 Major League Cricket has the potential to change Canadian cricket forever. It is a great challenge and Cricket Canada is ready to deliver a resounding success.”
The six teams for the inaugural edition are Toronto Nationals, Montreal Tigers, Ottawa Royals, Vancouver Knights, Winnipeg Hawks and a Caribbean All Stars team from West Indies.
The T20 league will be the 2nd franchise based league in the North American market after US Open T20, managed by Cricket Council USA (CCUSA). The league could pave way for players from USA, Canada & the rest of the Americas region to play alongside the top names in International Cricket.
For more information on the league, schedule and much more, visit the official website for Canada Global T20
