Hendriks
THE REGIONAL limited overs championship - the KFC One-Day tournament - could return to Jamaica next season.
This could likely happen if Restaurants of Jamaica, operators of KFC, could see Jamaica hosting the Final Four (semi-finals and final), have its way and bring the Final Four series here.
Jamaica, with 31 KFC Restaurants and Trinidad & Tobago, 48, have combined to pump 2/3 (US$50,000 each) of the US$150,000 to run this year's tournament.
This means Jamaica and Trinidad will more than likely battle to stage the prime matches next season.
JAMAICA THE CHOICE
Restaurants of Jamaica Limited has expressed special interest in hosting the semi-finals and finals next season and stated their choice is definitely Jamaica.
"As of 2006-2007 we will see matches in Jamaica, absolutely," Tina A. Matalon, marketing manager of Restaurants of Jamaica, said at a press conference at the Courtleigh Hotel, New Kingston, yesterday morning.
Matalon said based on the sponsorship arrangement, KFC Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago which spent the bulk of the money, "will have a big say in where matches are played."
The marketing manager also made it clear that there will be no fight between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to decide who will stage the Final Four series as "...we will share equally."
She went on to say " ... we would like to see some of the more exciting games come to Jamaica and Trinidad," but added that other countries will benefit.
In the meantime, if this year's format carry over to next season, only two countries will host matches.
Matalon said they will be looking at other possibilities to make sure other countries host matches.
Jackie Hendriks, president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) and a director of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), believes the format should be changed as the present one is costly.
"When you have two weaker teams playing the support is poor," he said. "We should look at having preliminary round games in two countries and a third to host the semi-finals and final."
This format was used between 1997-2003 when Red Stripe sponsored the competition, but the WICB was forced to cut back on the number of matches and teams when they had to fund the competition in the absence of a sponsor last season.
Apart from promotional costs, US$550,000 (J$34 million) will be spent over the three-year period, US$150,000 this year and US$200,000 for the next two years.
It was also announced that KFC Jamaica is committed to spending an additional J$1-million to ensure strong support of the event in Jamaica and enhance the overall experience for patrons at the games.
