The Global T20 had an official launch today (24 May), live-streamed on Facebook. The big news was the list of big-name layers signed up, led by suspended Australian captain Steve Smith, and leading T20 batsman Chris Gayle..
Nigel Reed, as frequently seen on CBC, TSN and Sportsnet was brought into to host. He started off by teling a story about his own introduction to cricket as a seven year old boy in the UK. He then introduced Ranjit Saini, Cricket Canada president to give the opening address.
Saini read somewhat haltingly a brief scripted speech. He emphasized the opportunity for Canadian players to compete alongside top class international players. He suggested the tournament would boost tourism with a cricket focus. He then thanked Mercuri, the backers of the tournament, and then Justin Trudeau, the government of Canada, the ICC, Cricket West Indies and others for their support.
Ashit Patel, Mercuri Canada director was the next to speak. He spoke fairly fluently off the cuff, thanking Cricket Canada for the opportunity, and again emphasizing the development opportunities for Canadian cricket. He spoke somewhat inaccurately about the history of cricket in Canada, and then uttered the buzz phrase of “bringing cricket back home”. He again talked about how this venture would build cricket in Canada to a national sport, and talked about the objective of building a Canadian team that would make it to the 2023 World Cup.
Next up was tournament director Jason Harper (formerly a CONCACAF press officer, and CEO of the Barbados Tridents of the CPL). He indicated over 1500 players have registered for the draft in the last two weeks.
He then introduced the tournament logo – red, incorporating a maple leaf and cricket ball (not unlike Cricket Canada’s own logo).
He indicated the tournament will start in 5 weeks, and pointed out Canadian national team players present at the launch,
A promotional video was screened – stock footage, then Justin Trudeau in India, then more stock footage…Another video introduced the teams – more stock footage with team logos superimposed on city views.
He then listed marquee players signed up for the tournament including:-
Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Shahid Afridi, Darren Sammy, Lasith Malinga, Steve Smith, Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, David Miller, Dwayne Bravo and Donavan Miller. Coaches will include Phil Simmons, Heath Streak and Waqar Younis
The player draw will be held digitally next week. Saini made a draw for draft order. The Toronto Nationals get to draft first, followed by Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton (apparently replacing Ottawa as a team), and Montreal. The Caribbean team is pre-selected.
The prize money was also announced – $500,000 for first place, $250,000 for 2nd, $150,000 for 3rd and $100,000 for fourth.
Harper was asked about the presence of Steve Smith, suspended by Cricket Australia. Harper indicated this was the start of Smith’s return to cricket, putting the past behind him.
Harper indicated there was strong interest in purchasing franchises. He indicated there will be 7000 seats at Maple Leaf. He said that a solid product will build an audience in Canada, competing with mainstream sports.