Victory worth $3m for WI

The West Indies cricket team can earn over $3 million should they win the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Trophy in England later this month. This was revealed by president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Teddy Griffith at a press conference hosted by the Lakshmi N Mital (LNM) Group of Companies at the Hilton Trinidad in Port-of-Spain yesterday. The LNM Group will be the sponsors of the West Indies team at the ICC Trophy in England which begins on September 10. According to Griffith, the ICC is offering US$50,000 for every win at the preliminary stage, US$125,000 for winning the semi-finals and US$300,000 for winning the tournament. This makes a total of US$525,000 for playing unbeaten in the tournament. Added to this, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players Association have finalised an incentive plan in which the team can earn bonus dollars for winning matches.

“Apart from fees earned directly from the West Indies Cricket Board, the generosity of LNM, as sponsor, is but one of three streams of earnings available to the West Indies team for this competition,” Griffith said. The third stream is from the ICC prize structure. “These streams provide a challenge and incentive to the team, to lift the standard of their cricketing performance so that they will be able to maximise the financial rewards that are available for consistently good and competitive performances during the tournament,” Griffith said. “The WICB, itself, has in addition agreed with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), payment to the team of an incentive bonus, over and above contractual fees to the players but again this is directly linked to the actual winning performance of the team progressively through the competition.” Managing-Director of Caribbean Ispat Limited, John Kuriyan said it was a privilege for his company to be on board with West Indies cricket.

He reminded the West Indies had great days on the playing field and that although they are down at the moment, the time will soon come when they start winning again. “Many of you would remember that the LNM Group sponsored the West Indies team at the World Cup in South Africa in 2003 and also way back in 1994 on tour of India. Today’s action is solid evidence of LNM’s commitment to the sport of cricket and also our willingness to make a positive contribution to Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region.” “With this sponsorship, the LNM Group is giving the West Indies cricket team a boost of confidence ahead of the competition. We are aware of the rich and colourful history of the West Indies and we have every confidence that the team will make us proud and entertain cricket fans throughout the world with their scintillating skill,” Kuriyan said. The West Indies team are in Group “B” in the preliminary round of the ICC Trophy and will come up against Bangladesh and South Africa.