First class matches uncertain
Cricket West Indies (CWI) is hoping an accelerated rollout of Covid-19 vaccines by regional governments can result in a sufficient improvement in health conditions, so as to facilitate the staging of first class cricket in the coming months.
The governing body has been banking on a shortened first class season, but with Covid-19 cases rising in several countries, speculation over a cancellation has heightened in recent weeks.
However, CWI CEO Johnny Grave, said CWI remained “optimistic and hopeful” of an improvement in the pandemic, so some amended version of the first class season could be staged before the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) scheduled to get underway in August.’
He said while there were benefits, especially in the current Covid-19 environment, to hosting entire tournaments in one country, there were also disadvantages as well.