Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados:

Jamaicans Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels head a list of six West Indies players who have been designated Icon Players for the upcoming inaugural Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20.

Gayle and Samuels have been assigned the status alongside Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and West Indies captan Darren Sammy.

The announcement was made on Tuesday at a colourful launch of the league in Barbados.

"Today, we announce another chapter in the roll-out of the CPL, and that is the naming of Icon Players," said CPL CEO Dirk Hall.

"These players represent the best of what the West Indies have to offer at the moment and we look forward to them providing fans with non-stop cricket entertainment," he added.

star performers

The players, all of whom - with the exception of Samuels - were missing at the launch due to West Indies commitments, will be the star players of six city-based club franchise teams.

The franchise teams, which will be revealed at a later date, are earmarked to come from the six major regional cricketing territories - Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and St Lucia.

Antigua and St Lucia are set to represent the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands, respectively.

Other revelations at the launch, which was attended by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and regional government officials, include the league logo, website and dates.

The event is set bowl off on July 29 and is set to finish on August 26, while the official website is www.cplt20.com.

The league is being organised by Barbados-based merchant bank Verus International, based on a 20-year lease agreement with the WICB.