Windies WC Team Gets Sponsor

The West Indies cricketers, who will take part in next month's cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, will be officially sponsored for the six-week tournament.

The LNM Group, (Lakshmi N. Mithal), the second largest steel producing company in the world, are the official sponsors of the team to participate in the series which bowls off on February 9 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is expected to unveil the official sponsorship at a news conference and luncheon today in the Scarlet Ibis Room of Hilton Trinidad in Port of Spain from 11:00 hrs.

WICB president Wes Hall and acting CEO Roger Braithwaite; and John Kuriyan, managing director of Caribbean Ispat Limited, a member of the LNM group will address the briefing.

The LNM Group's head offices and Holding Limited are in Curacao, Netherland Antilles, and their administrative officers are located in Rotherdam, Holland.

Other members of the group include Ispat International NB, LNM Holdings and PT Ispat in Indonesia.

They are the principal manufacturers of iron and steel worldwide.

This is the second time that a member of the group will be sponsoring the regional team.

In 1994, Caribbean Ispat Limited sponsored the team under the captaincy of world bowling record holder, Courtney Walsh, on their tour to India.

At that time the sponsorship was then worth US$200 000 with several monetary incentives including US$50 000 for any player who breaks Brian Lara's Test record of 375 runs.

Former WICB president Peter Short and Caribbean Ispat's managing director Ram Misra were signatories to the 1994 sponsorship.

It was a historic occasion then, as Caribbean Ispat were the first company to sponsor the West Indies team on an overseas tour.

* SOURCE: Guyana Chronicle