A 33-game Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 tournament will kick off next month with defending champion Barbados Tridents against St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Guyana Amazon Warriors taking on the Trinbago Knight Riders.

CPLCPL chief executive Damien O'Donohoe said from Aug 18-Sept 10 tournament would be staged in two venues in Trinidad and Tobago, with the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba hosting 23 games, including the semifinals and final, and Queen's Park Oval at Port of Spain hosting 10 games.

The West Indies team contested the first international cricket since the lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic when it beat England in the first test at Southampton earlier this month.

The West Indies players, who had to go into two weeks of quarantine after arriving in Britain last month in preparation for the test series, will return to the Caribbean and have to adapt quickly to the T20 format.

CPLJust like the test series in England, the six-team CPL will be played in empty stadiums and in a bio-secure environment with strict protocols in place to protect players and the public from the spread of Covid-19.