Prayagraj, Sept. 23 -- The Allahabad Cricket Association and the Sports and Cultural Society proudly announce the launch of their first-ever Sangam Premier League (SPL), on the lines of the Indian Premier League, to be held in Prayagraj from November 16 at the KP Inter College Ground. The inaugural edition of the SPL, which coincides with Prayagraj's rich cricketing culture, will feature six franchises - Ganga Jamuna XI, Civil Lines XI, Phulpur XI, Naini XI, Jhunsi XI and Phaphamau XI. The league will provide a platform for budding cricketers from Prayagraj and its neighbouring districts to showcase their talent in a professional format. Allahabad Cricket Association Director, Dr. Suresh Dwivedi, informed that the cash-rich league is being organised for the betterment of local cricket and cricketers with the support of Quad Sports, a sports management company. "The league will be played on the pattern of the IPL and also inspired by the UPT20 League, both of which have been instrumental in nurturing talent," said Dr. Dwivedi. "I am confident that SPL will give a major boost to local cricket, as everyone will get an opportunity to experience a new format of the game at the local level while drawing the attention of state selectors. Similar leagues across the country have already provided cricketers the chance to make their mark at state and even national levels," he added. A total of 18 matches will be played during the 14-day league, culminating with the grand final on November 27. All matches will be played in coloured clothing with a white ball. Player registration will open shortly with a deadline of October 15, followed by trials for the six franchises. The players' draft is scheduled for November 7. The Allahabad Cricket Association and the Sports and Cultural Society have been organising major cricket tournaments for over 60 years, including the prestigious All India Lal Bahadur Shastri Cricket Tournament, which has seen participation from Indian and international greats such as Sunil Gavaskar. Besides this, the cricket body's other premium event happens to be the All India Justice SN Dwivedi Cricket Tournament, which saw top teams of the country participating in the event. In fact, Prayagraj has been a nursery of cricketers since long, producing many top cricketers, who went on representing Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket and India too in many international events, including junior India sides. He, however, informed that former India cricketer and one of Uttar Pradesh's most successful Ranji Trophy captains, Gyanendra Pandey, a native of Prayagraj, has been named Brand Ambassador of the Sangam Premier League. Prayagraj's Madan Mohan Malviya Stadium seems to have become the new destination for almost every state and national level athletics meet and the conduct of the three-day 36th North Zone Junior Athletics Championship, starting from Tuesday, consolidates this fact. Certainly, Lucknow was the first choice for the Uttar Pradesh Athletics Association to hold big events, but lack of facilities for the pole vault event, especially at the Guru Govind Singh Sports College's athletics stadium has forced the state body to change its plan. "Even for the state championship recently, we faced this problem so we decided to shift the entire event to Prayagraj, where the stadium owns top quality facilities," an official of the UPAA said on Monday. Maximum two athletes from one state including hosts Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh in the age categories of under-14, 16, 18 and 20 in both boys and girls categories will be seen in action....