WI franchise cricket to begin on November 14th

ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) — Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana will host the first round of matches in the first-ever Professional Cricket League’s (PCL), Regional Four-Day Tournament, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced on Friday.

The WICB statement also revealed names of some of the franchises participating in the near six-month-long tournaments, which represent a revamping of the regional cricket competitions.

The Windward Islands franchise will be known as Volcanoes, while the Trinidad and Tobago franchise will be known as Red Force.

The other four franchises will announce their names in due course, the release said.

The league format will commence with three matches in the opening round from November 14 to 17.

Jamaica are at home to Volcanoes, Trinidad and Tobago host against the Barbados franchise, while the Leewards franchise will travel to Guyana for their opening match.

Each team will play 10 matches — five at home and five away.

The PCL inaugural draft ceremony will be held on Monday in Barbados and will be video streamed live on windiescricket.com

Each franchise has retained 10 players and will be required to draft five additional players to make up a squad of 15 players.

The WICB Professional Cricket League comprises the Regional Four-Day Tournament and the NAGICO Super50 Tournament, which will be played in January 2015.