Super League cricket get Paramount $$

THE Super League cricket competitions will now be known as the Paramount Transport Super League. This is the result of a new sponsorship deal arranged between the Cricket Board and the Marabella-based Paramount Transport Limited. The Super League consists of the three competitions —  the Midweek 30-overs-a-side, the 40-overs-a-side and the League’s two-day competition. At the media launch held at the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre (SFWDC) on Thursday, Patrick Rampersad, chairman of the National Cricket League and the Super League committees, disclosed that the total prize money for these three competitions amounts to $48,000. For the Midweek (Tuesday and Wednesday) competition, the winning team will be awarded $5,000 while the runner-up prize is $2,500. Losing semi-finalists will receive $1,000 each. The quarter-finals (8 teams) will each be presented with $500.

Winner of the 40-overs-a-side will be given $8,000 while the runner-up will collect $4,000. The semi-finalists will each bag $1,000 each while the quarter-finalists will also share $500 each. Rampersad said there will be a new format for this year’s competition which he says should create more interest and stimulate better competitions and rivalry. Three zones—  North, Central and South will comprise of eight teams each and overall zonal winner (two-day competition) will collect $3,000. The runners-up will benefit with $1,600 and the third place $900 each. He also pointed out that the winners of each zone will be afforded the opportunity of vying for promotion to the TTCB’s National Cricket League Division Two competition next season. The three winners plus the team which finishes seventh in Division Two League competition will meet in a round robin play-off for the one promotion spot.

However, it is important to note that the overall sponsorship is worth $150,000. Rampersad also revealed that the 40-overs and league competition will be played on weekends while the midweek series will be contested on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He also reported that the League competition format which was changed to three three-day matches and four two-day matches had to be re-scheduled because of inclement weather. The competition started on February 12 and all matches for the 2005 season will now only be of two-day duration. Ian Latchmansingh, business development manager at Paramount Transport, looks forward for a good relationship with the TTCB and he thanked the officials for allowing them to make a tangible contribution for the development of youth and sports in the country.

Dudnath Ramkessoon, the Board first vice-president and chairman of senior selection committee, had formally expressed the Board’s gratitude to the new sponsor for their meaningful contribution in taking cricket to the length and breadth of the country but moreso to the rural communities. He described them as “a good corporate citizen, who will be assisting the Board to promote cricket among 24 clubs and helping over 1,000 cricketers, their families and supporters. “There are good incentives for the various competitions but to achieve success and enjoy victories, the players need to be focused and disciplined,” Ramkessoon said.

It was surprising and shocking that a suggestion for the Board to have someone, maybe a public relations officer or media relations officer or another official, co-ordinate the results of the matches which should be disseminated to the various media houses so as to give the new sponsor adequate mileage for his investment, to be flippantly and arrogantly dismissed by an official at the media launch. The reason for the suggestion was that these Super League competitions will he held simultaneously during the weekend and Midweek with the Board’s premier Carib National Cricket League Division One and Division Two competitions. It is no wonder that over the years, the Board have lost valuable sponsorship for the Super League on a regular basis because of the lack of foresight and proper planning.