ST JOHN’S, Antigua – A new bonus points system is being introduced to the upcoming CG United Super50 Cup to encourage players and teams to align their style of play and performance targets with the West Indies One-Day International team’s new vision and brand of cricket. Cricket West Indies (CWI) unveiled the addition to the original points allocation of – 4 for a win, 2 for a no result and 0 for a loss.
Under the new structure teams will gain the bonus points for achieving various performance targets at stages during the match. These include: runs during the powerplays, wickets during the powerplays, decreases in ‘dot ball’ percentage, batsmen scoring centuries, bowlers taking five-wicket hauls, and fielders effecting run outs.
This year, the region’s premier List A 50-over tournament will run from Tuesday 17 October to Saturday 11 November with a new eight-team league format followed by Semi-Finals and Finals to determine the 2023 CG United Super50 Cup Champions.
Miles Bascombe, CWI’s Director of Cricket, outlined the reasons behind the additional bonus points and noted that the teams have expressed eagerness and excitement to play with the new points structure.
“The white ball Head Coach [Daren Sammy] presented to the franchise coaches about the brand of cricket we want to play in the 50-over format going forward and as we build from now towards the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2027. So, our new bonus point system has been built around getting our regional teams to execute that brand. We have identified challenges with strike rotation, as well as other aspects necessary to compete in the modern game. This bonus points system is one way of putting the spotlight on these issues and addressing them directly through these incentives,” Bascombe said.
“By establishing a clear brand of cricket – we bring clarity to the planning and the preparation required for execution on the field – we believe that we will see the teams attempting to play the type of cricket required, which is a start. All that we do at the regional level has to be geared towards improvement and success at the international level.”
Looking ahead to the tournament Bascombe added: “We ensured with the new format every team plays against each other team so that we have a full round-robin and that would mean one additional game for each team. That brings some balance to the tournament before we head to the Final Four Semi-Finals. The teams are happy with this new format and with the additional preliminary game that provides our players more cricket, more opportunity and more exposure.”
The 50-over tournament will officially bowl off in Trinidad on the morning of Tuesday 17 October with the opening match between home side Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) at the Queen’s Park Oval (QPO) at 9am (8am Jamaica). Also on Tuesday, the Guyana Harpy Eagles will face the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA) in the first televised match at 1pm (12 noon Jamaica).
The Tournament will feature 31 matches to be played at three venues: the BLCA, the QPO and the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Grounds of the University of the West Indies Sport and Physical Education Centre (UWI SPEC) at the St. Augustine Campus.
All 13 matches at the BLCA, including the Semi-Finals and Final, will be televised live on ESPN Caribbean, with 12 of those matches being day/night games. (CWI Media)
