New dawn for cricket in Pizza Hut/Gomez Classic

THE PIZZA Hut chain of restaurants yesterday signalled a new dawn for cricket in Trinidad and Tobago. The commitment was made yesterday by Kurtis Rudd, new Marketing Manager of Prestige Holdings at the launch of the annual Pizza Hut/Gerry Gomez Classic at the KFC Corporate Booth, Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. Rudd, son of well-known photographer Kenny Rudd, who resides in the United States, said yesterday the time was ripe to capitalise on the momentum created by the recent success of the national and regional cricketers. And he hopes to use the traditional North versus South match, from December 16 to 19 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, to stir the revival in domestic cricket. Pizza Hut are contributing $40,000 in sponsorship for the four-day match which will provide valuable incentives for the players, spectators and the print and electronic media.

Rudd said he was not a believer in “sponsorship for sponsorship’s sake.” “Sponsorship should be an investment ... an investment in building the sport and, let us not fool ourselves, an investment also in building the brands we represent. “At the end of the day everyone should benefit, the players, the public and the sponsor,” he said. Rudd revealed his company’s objectives: To make the annual Pizza Hut/Gerry Gomez Classic into one of the most exciting and eagerly anticipated cricket matches in the country; to bring the crowds back into the game; to provide incentives for the players to encourage them to greater things; and to establish Pizza Hut as one of the major supporters of positive cricket in the country. Among the incentives for the public are free admission; vouchers for free pizza to all cricket teams attending the match; and a novel skills competition in which a lucky spectator can win $10,000.

The lion’s share of the Pizza Hut sponsorship however, will go the cricketers out in the middle. A batsman scoring a century will collect $1,000 as will a bowler taking five wickets and a fieldsman snaring five catches in an innings. The “Man-of-the-Match” will also stand to reap a $1,000 dividend with $50 at stake for every four hit by a batsman and every catch taken, including the wicketkeeper. And every stumping by the wicketkeeper is worth $100, the same sum going to the fieldman who effects a run-out and the bowler who clean bowls a batsman. Batsmen will also stand to increase their match taking by crashing the ball into the strategically placed Pizza Hut billboard on the boundary ropes at $200 a pop. Also attending yesterday’s function was Dudnath Ramkessoon, first vice-president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and Bruce Aanensen, representing the Queen’s Park Cricket Club.