Caribbean Twenty20
 |
|
| Countries |
 West Indies
|
|---|---|
| Administrator | WICB |
| Format | Twenty20 |
| First tournament | 2010 |
| Last tournament | 2012–13 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin and knockout |
| Number of teams | 7 |
| Current champion |
 Trinidad and Tobago
|
| Most successful |
Trinidad and Tobago (3 titles) |
| Qualification | Champions League Twenty20 |
| Website | ct20.windiescricket.com |
The Caribbean Twenty20 was an annual tournament Twenty20 cricket tournament in the West Indies that was held four times from 2010 to 2013. The top performing domestic team qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament. It was replaced by the Caribbean Premier League, whose first season began in July 2013.
The previous domestic Twenty20 tournament held by the West Indies Cricket Board was the Stanford 20/20, which ended in 2008 after its sponsor Allen Stanford was charged with fraud and arrested in June 2009. The creation of the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament coincides with the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 tournament, which started less than two months after. The top domestic team from the tournament qualified for the Champions League as the sole representative of the West Indies. They will be the tenth and last team to qualify, as all other teams qualified before May 2010.
Cricket in the West Indies was at a time of decline, indicated by the criticism received when they hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup and the failure of the Stanford 20/20. With the slogan "Bring It Back", the Caribbean Twenty20 was an attempt to revitalize interest in the sport with a focus on the Twenty20 format, which was popular amongst audiences in the 18–34 age-group. This follows the success of the Trinidad and Tobago national cricket team at the 2009 Champions League Twenty20, where they were runners-up, and the West Indies' successful hosting of the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.
After the inaugural tournament, the tournament was moved to January 2011. Originally it was intended to run alongside a second Twenty20 competition in January called the Calypso Cup, which would have featured the four semi-finalists from the 2010 Caribbean Twenty20 as well as the two finalists from England's Friends Provident t20 competition and two other overseas teams (including possibly a third team from England). These plans were later cancelled. It was later announced that the two English county teams Somerset and Hampshire were to participate in the Caribbean Twenty20.
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