THE CYPRUS Cricket Association announced the scheduled for the upcoming Twenty20 tournament which will get under way on September 7 at the Happy Valley and Ayios Nicolaos cricket grounds.
“Twenty20 was introduced to the global scene in 2003 with the idea of bridging the time span gap between popular sports like football.
“Usually a normal one-day cricket match lasts for six to seven hours; however, Twenty20 has shortened the match length significantly to two and a half hours; thus bringing cricket in line with other major sports.
“This exhilarating format is fast catching up with fans and players alike and all major cricketing nations have chalked up Twenty20 championships in their cricketing calendar,” explained Muhammad Hussein, the Marketing and Communication Officer of the Cyprus Cricket Association.
Twelve teams will take part in this year’s event with the league champions Sri Lankans CC placed in Group A, together with Ayios Nicolaos Taverners and the Fellows. Taj Pavilion CC is the only league side in Group B which also includes the second team of Amdocs and a team from Nicosia.
The national league runner-up Lions are favorites to win in Group C against the Moufflons and a newly created team from Paphos. Amdocs, the military side WSBA and a combined team of players from the Moufflons and the Fellows form Group D.
“Though cricket in Cyprus does not have the luxury of providing fortunes like Indian Premier League to the players, nevertheless the electric atmosphere and runs galore will be available to the local public.”
“With the introduction of Twenty20, the game of cricket is no longer boring and that is evident with new teams and players showing interest in the sports. For the first time we will have a team from Paphos region competing and that means that now we have a cricket team in every district of Cyprus from Famagusta to Paphos,” Hussein added.
In the case of bad weather the matches will be postponed and then played the following weekend. Each team will have to bowl its allotted 20 overs in 90 minutes, with a restriction of four bowlers per over.
The round robin system will be applied for the group stages of the competition with the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. The final match is scheduled for November 16 at the Happy Valley cricket ground one just outside Limassol.
