Ansa McAl to Take Over Windies Sponsorship

Thu, Oct 24, '02

The Ansa McAl Group is tipped to replace Busta as the new sponsors of regional cricket in the West Indies.

Ansa McAl, an auto sales concern created about 15 years ago when Anthony Sagba bought into the ailing McEnearney Alstons Group, is among a trio of Caribbean businesses in the running for a deal with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to sponsor the regional four-day competition.

According to media reports, Shell 'Caribbean' Limited and another business believed to be beer makers Banks are also in talks with the board to replace the previous sponsors, which ended its relationship with the regional competition last week.

The Trinidad and Tobago-based S.M. Jaleel Limited, makers of Busta soft drink, had sponsored the Busta Cup for the past four years, having committed themselves to this period. The four-year sponsorship deal with the giant soft drink manufacturer expired earlier this year and because of the huge cost factor, they decided not to renew it.

Sources say S.M. Jaleel intimated to the WICB it wanted to take a hiatus from sponsoring the tournament until after the 2007 World Cup tournament but the WICB scoffed at that suggested and opted to pursue other options.

S.M. Jaleel took over the regional sponsorship in December 1998, after the WICB had failed to get a sponsor for that season.

The regional competition was sponsored by Shell, for the first 22 years of the championship, and then by Red Stripe Beer.

Busta, during their period of sponsorship, injected close to US$893,000 into the development of West Indies cricket. One of their major initiatives was an incentive scheme which paid out US$42,000 to the top performers during each season.

* With reporting from the Guyana Chronicle.