ESPN is to bring cricket fans full coverage of the Caribbean Twenty20 – the annual T20 cricket tournament in the region – for the third successive year.
The fourth edition of the tournament is set to feature some of the top players in the world, including those that help guide the West Indies to their first T20 World Cup title in Sri Lanka back in October.
ESPN will broadcast live or as-live coverage of every game from two-week tournament beginning on Sunday, January 6, through to the final in St Lucia on Sunday, January 20.
The tournament will give fans an opportunity to experience West Indies cricket after the region’s team were crowned ICC Twenty20 world champions.
West Indies stars Kieron Pollard (pictured), Sunil Narine, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell, Dwayne and Darren Bravo are among those who will be in action.
The 2013 tournament features a new format, with each team playing six group-stage matches, up from four in this year’s tournament.
For the first time only the seven regional teams will be competing and there will be no invited overseas sides, which have in the past included English counties Sussex, Somerset and Hampshire.
Each team will play each other once and the team with the most points at the end of the group-stage stage will automatically qualify for the final.
The other finalist will be decided after a playoff between the second and the third-placed teams in the group-stage.
The winner of the tournament will also qualify for the 2013 Champions League T20 tournament.
ESPN will begin its coverage with the opening match between Trinidad & Tobago, who won this year’s edition of the tournament, against Jamaica at the Queen’s Park Oval, in the Port of Spain.
Specific information regarding further live games and delayed coverage will be announced in the weeks ahead.
During the opening week of the tournament, ESPN Classic will take a look back at classic matches and great moments involving West Indies cricketers in all forms of the game.
The one hour programming strand will air at 7pm each night between January 7 and January 11, and at 6.35pm on January 12-13.
Online and on mobile, devices the popular ESPNcricinfo website will provide news, match previews, a range of audio and video and match reports.
Simon Potter, senior director of programming at ESPN Europe Middle East & Africa, said: “Through television and digital media around the world, ESPN has a long association with cricket that we will continue to enhance and expand in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
“The Caribbean T20 is a great addition to our schedule in a month already full of great sport, including the FA Cup Third Round, and ESPNcricinfo will provide link between fans and the tournament, wherever they are.”
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