Cricket West Indies hopes to host South Africa in September

The CWI, however, is waiting for the announcement of the schedule of the IPL, which will be played in the UAE at around the same time.

The West Indies cricket team is currently in the middle of a Test series in England.

Cricket West Indies is willing to host a five-match T20I series or a two-Test rubber involving West Indies and South Africa in September, according to CEO Johnny Grave. The CWI, however, is waiting for the announcement of the schedule of the Indian Premier League, which will be played from 19 September to 8 November in the United Arab Emirates subject to clearance given by the government of India.

South Africa was scheduled to tour the Caribbean to play two Tests and five T20s from 23 July to 16 August but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We very much hope that South Africa will be able to come here in September for either a T20-only tour or a Test-only tour at the very least,” Grave told Starcom Radio .

However, the IPL would have to be factored in now that it would be played at around the same time. “It will be dependent on the IPL. South Africa have a number of their Test players who have IPL contracts, whereas in this current Test team we don’t have any IPL players,” Grave said.

The IPL Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule for the competition.

‘We won’t be able to play Test cricket against South Africa during the IPL — Cricket South Africa have made that very clear to us.’

“We won’t be able to play Test cricket against South Africa during the IPL — Cricket South Africa have made that very clear to us. They’ve got a commitment to their players to allow them to go and play in the IPL,” Grave said.

West Indies is currently locked in a three-Test series in England. Once the ongoing third Test ends, the West Indies cricketers will be competing in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which is expected to be held between 18 August and 10 September. “The plan as we are working on now is that the players would come home, they will have the weekend at home. Those that are in the Caribbean Premier League will head down to Trinidad on probably 3 August so it’s a quick turnaround,” Grave said.

“CPL finishes 10 September. We hope very much that South Africa will follow immediately after that. Whether we can get the full tour in or we’re going to have to look at a split tour between the Tests and the T20s, we don’t know. We obviously hear and read that India are trying to get the IPL towards the back end of September either in India, which I know is their preferred choice, or the UAE, which is their backup choice, but there’s been no announcement on that yet.”