Mumbai, Nov 22 (IANS): Adding to the growing popularity of the Ten10 (T10) format around the world, Cricket Kenya on Monday announced the launch of a mega T10 league in Africa to be held from mid-2023.

The first of its kind in Africa and the second globally, the league will be called Africa T10 and will be played in June 2023.

The aim behind Cricket Kenya, one of the erstwhile growing powerhouses of African cricket, is to the country set on a path to retain its long-lost glory.

The fastest format of cricket is scheduled for a six-team, 34-game tournament. Cricket Kenya looks forward to having an annual African gala affair, in which the best global players will be a part of the league, Cricket Kenya informed in a release.

"Africa T10 plans to have 1 Associate Player, 1 African player, 2 Kenyan players and 7 other Global players in each playing XI. This is set to be Africa's own Global T10 League," Cricket Kenya said in the release.

Commenting on the partnership, Manoj Patel, Chairman, Cricket Kenya said, "We are excited to conceptualize a Global short-format, annual cricket league, in partnership with Pacific Star Sports. Kenya Cricket in particular and African Cricket, in general, would greatly benefit from our initiative. We look forward to inviting all global T20 stars to be part of this and it would be the second of its kind after the UAE-based T10 League."

This is a significant development and a major milestone for cricket in the country that made its World Cup debut in 1996 and knocked on the doors of the big boy's league in 2003 by entering the semi-finals of the ICC ODI World Cup, 2003.