ST JOHN'S, Antigua:

The West Indies Cricket Board has announced that Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia have won the rights to host the fourth edition of its flagship regional tournament - Caribbean Twenty20.

Trinidad and Tobago will host the first part of the preliminary round at the Queen's Park Oval while Beausejour Cricket Ground will be the venue for the second part of the preliminary round, the play-offs and the final.

The Trinidad and Tobago bid was specifically for the preliminary round of the premier regional tournament scheduled to be hosted from January 6-21, 2013.

The WICB International Fixtures Committee reviewed and assessed the four bids received, and Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia were given the nod ahead of Barbados and Antigua.

Trinidad and Tobago previously hosted the latter preliminary stage, the semi-finals and final of the inaugural Caribbean T20 in 2010. This will be the first time Caribbean T20 will be played in St Lucia.

Barbados had previously hosted every Caribbean Twenty20 tournament thus far and Antigua hosted the tournament in 2011 and 2012.

Trinidad and Tobago had originally won the bid to host in 2012 but the tournament was moved to Antigua after scheduling conflicts arose.

International fixtures committee: Enoch Lewis - chairman (chairman of WICB Finance Committee), Joel Garner (chairman of WICB Cricket Committee), Emmanuel Nanthan (member of WICB Business Development Committee), Dr Ernest Hilaire (CEO), Roland Holder (cricket operations manager and Nelecia Yeates (WICB commercial manager).

Criteria for assessing bids:

1. Cost of hosting matches

2. Contributions of the host to the event

3. Potential revenue opportunities

4. Strength of commitment

5. Record of honouring commitments

6. Quality of event management during WICB Tournaments

7. Venue readiness

8. Rotation of host venues

9. Weather conditions at time of hosting

Venues had to have lights to qualify for the bidding process.