ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) — Tickets for the Caribbean Twenty20 go on sale today, with organisers encouraging fans to take advantage of the “attractive” prices on offer for the January showpiece.

Seven regional teams will do battle from January 6-20 in the championship scheduled for Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia.

“The region is buzzing with excitement after the great win by the West Indies team in Sri Lanka at the World T20 tournament. That enjoyment and massive support has spilled over to the Caribbean T20. There is a lot of interest in the CT20 and excitement is building across the Caribbean,” said Cindy McLean, the West Indies Cricket Board’s event manager.

“The Caribbean T20 is for everyone… we want everyone to feel a part of the Caribbean T20. We want to pack both venues for every night of cricket and we believe with the very attractive ticket prices and the rich entertainment on the field will prove the right mix.”

McLean said the aim of low ticket prices was in a bid to pack the venues at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, which has a seating capacity of 25,000 and Beausejour Cricket Stadium in St Lucia, which can hold 15,000 fans. Tickets will go for TT$40 (US$6.24) in Trinidad and for as little as EC$15 (US$5.50) for the remainder of the first round in St Lucia. Patrons will pay EC$20 for the play-off matches and EC$25 for the grand final.

“This is one of the most exciting stages of any sporting event for fans — when they get that golden opportunity to get their hands on tickets. It’s a big moment and fans who plan to be part of the tournament will no doubt be eager and waiting to purchase tickets for their favourite seats,” McLean noted.

“We are into the busy Christmas period and a perfect gift for a cricket-lover would be a ticket for the Caribbean T20 2013. We will start with sales in Trinidad, which is our biggest and busiest venue for cricket.

“We want to see the stands filled for every match so we have made sure we have all systems in place for the start of ticket sales and we anticipate a busy period from Monday onwards.”

Defending champions Trinidad and Tobago will be joined by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Combined Campuses and Colleges, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands, in contesting the tournament.