The second edition of the Global T20 Canada will be played from July 25 to August 11 with top shorter format players from West Indies, Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan expected to participate.
The five franchises are – Vancouver Knights, Toronto Nationals, Winnipeg Hawks, Edmonton Royals and Montreal Tigers. The sixth team in the tournament was West Indies B.
Some of the prominent cricketers who played last year are David Warner, Dwayne Smith, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Shahid Afridi and Peter Siddle.
Warner, however, in all likelihood will miss this edition as he is all set to make his Test comeback in the Ashes just after the World Cup.
The tournament will comprise a total of 22 matches including the three playoffs games and the finals to be played on Sunday, August 11.
West Indies legend Brian Lara, who is also a Brand Ambassador of the League, said: “I was there to see the first edition of the league and was enormously impressed with the overall quality of cricket. “Despite a few hiccups, Cricket Canada and GT20 team delivered an outstanding event,” the legendary batsman said.
Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini said, “We at Cricket Canada are committed to providing much-needed opportunity and exposure to our Canadian players. We will work alongside the GT20 team to make the 2019 edition even more memorable for the players and fans.”
Promoter and owner of the GT20 Canada, Gurmeet Singh said: “I am thankful to Cricket Canada for entrusting us with this responsibility. We have a very robust system in place to produce another world-class cricketing event that reflects the best of Canada.”
In the coming days, GT20 will announce the player registration process along with details of marquee players and the teams draft roster.