Rowley: CPL bubble won't endanger the public

THE Prime Minister has said hosting the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament will not affect the national communicty, explaining that the tournament is being held in a "bubble."

Dr Rowley, speaking at a covid19 media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's on Friday, said, "Everything that will go on around the CPL will go on in a bubble that does not interact with the national population."

Visiting players and officials "would be coming into the country under the protocols of entry all having tested negative before. When they come here they are confined to the Hilton Hotel and that becomes a bubble for them."

For the first time, the entire CPL will be played in TT, with matches at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba and at Queen's Park Oval in St Clair.

Fans are not allowed to attend.

Rowley said, "Then (the players) will go to a venue to play the game where they will not interact with the population. So therefore the CPL is a bubble that has nothing to do with what goes on with the population in the country."

A total of 33 matches will be played.

The CPL follows similar steps taken during the recently concluded West Indies tour of England. The Windies players stayed in isolation at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester, where they lived and trained for four weeks leading up to the series.

Over 250 players and staff will stay at the Hilton and will undergo multiple tests when arriving in TT for the tournament.

Players are expected to arrive over the coming days for the tournament, which takes place from August 18-September 10.

A total of six teams will stay at the hotel, including Trinbago Knight Riders, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Barbados Tridents, St Lucia Zouks, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Jamaica Tallawahs.