London [UK], Aug 1 (ANI): Keith Rowley, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago has said he is hopeful the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL) would go ahead without any glitch.

The CPL is slated to be played from August 18 to September 10 in Trinidad and Tobago across two stadiums and behind closed doors.

"The CPL games are quite different, that's a bubble. Everything that will go on around the CPL will go on in a bubble that does not interact with the local population," ESPNCricinfo quoted Rowley as saying.

"They will come into the country under the protocols of entry, all having tested negative before. When they come here they are confined to the Hilton Hotel and that becomes a bubble for them. Then they will go to a venue to play the game where they will not interact with the population and so the CPL is a bubble that has nothing to do with what goes on in the country," he added.

As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, Trinidad and Tobago had recorded a total of 169 cases and eight deaths until July 31st.

All the participants in the CPL will be required to self-isolate for two weeks before they board their flights, and for two weeks upon arrival in Trinidad and Tobago.

All the overseas participants will be tested for Covid-19 before departure and then upon arrival followed by two more tests which will be conducted after a span of 7 and 14 days.

"Don't play you can come out from that protocol and decide to take a drink down the road or whatever, we're not tolerating that. The same way we opened factories and keep them open, we opened the stores selling cloth, the CPL is just another business aspect in the country, in this case it's cricket, it's televised, the benefit we get from it is that we promote the country. We've established very strict protocols," Rowley said.

The first match of the CPL will be played between Trinbago Knight Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors on August 18 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. (ANI)