Global T20 Canada league’s second season good to go

The second edition of cricket’s Global T20 Canada league will follow hot on the heels of the 2019 ICC World Cup, with the first match scheduled for July 25.

Defending champions the Vancouver Knights will play the Toronto Nationals near Toronto, less than two weeks after the final of the 50-over World Cup is held at Lord’s in London on July 14.

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Canada’s 2019 Global Twenty20 tournament will feature 22 matches, including the 18 round-robin matches and four finals, all at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City, Ontario, with the final on August 11. The same six teams – Vancouver, Toronto, West Indies B Team, Winnipegs Hawks, Edmonton Royals and Montreal Tigers – as 2018 will take part.

In 2018 a group of international players were announced as marquee players for the tournament. They were: Steve Smith, David Warner, Shahid Afridi, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Chris Lynn, Lasith Malinga, David Miller, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Darren Sammy.

For former Australian captain Smith and superstar opener Warner, it was their first competitive cricket since their Cricket Australia bans for their parts in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons, who played for the Winnipeg Hawks, was the player of the tournament after topping the batting list with 321 runs from his eight innings. His fellow West Indian Sheldon Cottrell (Vancouver) was the leading wicket-taker with 16.

The inaugural season was considered a success although the crowds, apart from for the final, were largely disappointing. Many matches were played in a timeslot to work with a potentially massive television audience in cricket-mad India.

The final was close to a sellout, with an estimated 6500 people at the boutique ground, a number which matched the total attendance of all the previous matches. Pakistan-born Canadian player Saad Bin Zafar was the hero for Vancouver, scoring a match-winning 79 from 48 balls to be man of the match in the final as the Knights beat West Indies B team.

Organisers said the 2019 marquee list would be announced in the coming days.

Global T20 Canada list of marquee players

To be confirmed

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