Vincy Premier League – a cricketing getaway
Caribbean Life, June 5-11, 2020 33
By Nelson A. King
With cricket, like most sports,
suspended around the world,
a small corner of the Caribbean
has started its own cricket
league, with all health protocols
to be risk-free from any COVID-
19 interruption, according to the
Indian Express.
That small corner is St. Vincent
and the Grenadines (SVG),
whose major cricket ground, the
Arnos Vale Sporting Complex,
considered the most picturesque
in the world, is hosting the inaugural
Vincy Premier League
(VPL).
“Whether the stands will sway
to soca and reggae is unsure as
the timing of the VPL is odd —
the matches (30 in 10 days) begin
at 8.30 in the morning, catering
to Asian viewers more than the
locals,” reported the Express on
May 23. “Besides, the crowd is
regulated too.”
“We could not obviously deny
crowd from entering the stadium
as there is no lockdown or other
prohibitions in our country,” said
Dr. Kishore Shallow, president of
the local cricket association and
vice president of the West Indies
Cricket Board.
“So, we kind of reduced the
number of tickets and instructed
strict social-distancing practices
while watching the game,” he
added. “Every spectator will be
screened and their temperature
measured.
“Also, because the matches
are in the morning, we don’t
expect too much of a crowd,”
Shallow continued.
But a sparse crowd is better
than no crowd, according
to Nixon McLean, former West
Indies fast bowler and coach of
Botanic Gardens Rangers, one of
the six franchises in the VPL, a
T10 tournament that would roll
on for 10 days.
“It will be quite bizarre to
play in an empty stadium. Even
domestic matches here get
a decent turnout,” Nixon told
the Express. “The other day, I
watched a Bundesliga match and
felt quite odd. We can’t imagine
that. So, a bit of a crowd, seeing
people in the stands, it’s so
heart-warming. And expect a lot
of noise and cheering.”
The league, if one discounts
the Vanuatu Premier League, is
the only instance of competitive
cricket since the pandemic
outbreak that suspended most
sporting activities in the world,
the Express said.
“The cricket world will be tuning
into us,” Nixon said. “So, we
are naturally excited. The little
island will be in the limelight
for once.”
The Express noted that “SVG,
or the ‘small island’ as they call it
in the Caribbean, is a necklace of
32 islands, of which only nine are
inhabited with four of the nine
being private resorts, having a
total area of 369 square kilometer
and population of 110,000.”
Like most East Caribbean
islands, the Express said the
COVID-19 devastation has been
“nominal here,” stating that, “till
date, only 18 persons have been
infected, of which 14 have recovered.”
The Express said SVG has
been a cricketing outlier, too —
“primarily a limited-overs haunt
– with the Arnos Vale Sporting
Complex not hosting any
international fixture since a Test
against Bangladesh in 2014.”
The publication also noted
that international cricketers,
too, have sprung sparsely — only
nine from the island have played
Test cricket for the West Indies.
“They don’t have a team in
the Caribbean Premier League
either,” it said. But McLean said
the stadium is one of the most
beautiful in the world.
“It’s so close to the Caribbean
Sea, and I remember people seeing
(Brian) Lara hitting a few
into the sea. The atmosphere is
usually great, a lot of music and
drums in the stands,” McLean
said.
The VPL said spectators can
now view action live, stating that
spectators began watching the
action live from May 24, 2020.
This was confirmed by the
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Cricket Association (SVGCA),
Inc., organizer of the VPL, following
the approval of the National
COVID-19 taskforce.
Cricket West Indies Vice President, Dr. Kishore Shallow.
Cricket West Indies
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