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St Mary Big Bash bowls off January 20

Published:Friday | January 11, 2019 | 12:00 AM
Contributed
President of the St Mary Cricket Association, Ian Spencer (left), accepts a sponsorship cheque from Narvalyn Costly (centre) of Costly Construction during the launch of the St Mary Cricket Association's Maurice Clarke T20 Big Bash tournament at Beaches Ocho Rios on Thursday. Others in photograph (from second left) are Courtney Francis , CEO Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA); ; Port Maria's Mayor Richard Creary and JCA president Billy Heaven.

The 2019 staging of the St Mary Cricket Association Maurice Clarke Big Bash T20 tournament bowls off on January 20, with Sandals Resorts International as title sponsors.

This was announced on Thursday at the launch of the event at Beaches Ocho Rios by general manager of the resort Brian Roper on behalf of the sponsors.

The 12-team competition, named after parish stalwart Maurice Clarke, will have as associate sponsors Costly Construction, Parkway Pharmacy, Braham Service Stations, White Hall Estates, and Wisynco.

 

Long-term commitment

 

In addressing the gathering, Roper gave notice of Sandals' long- term commitment to cricket and sports in the parish but urged the association to exercise good governance and the teams to show discipline and punctuality.

President of the association Ian Spencer lauded all the sponsors who had come forward to make the new competition a reality and promised that his team would try and make it a special event for the spectators and lovers of cricket in the parish.

According to Spencer, the teams taking part are Boscobel, Mango Valley, Days Mountain, Port Maria, Top Pen, Jacks River, Three Hills, Gayle, Highgate, Bonnie Gate, Oxford, and Geddes Town. They will be divided into three zones, with the top two from each zone automatically advancing, along with the two best third-place teams.

Spencer noted that this year's event would feature electronic scoring to be uploaded so that fans could check scoreboards and statistics during the course of the competition.

"We want to develop our cricket in this parish to the highest level, and this will be a first for a parish association in the country," Spencer added. "We also have our Instagram and Facebook pages , where the public will get live updates throughout the course of matches."

A special feature of the tournament will be a Player of the Round award to the top player at the end of each week's competition. Matches will be played on Sundays at Boscobel Oval, Days Mountain, and the Three Hills grounds.

President of the Jamaica Cricket Association, Billy Heaven, who was guest speaker of the event, lauded the St. Mary Association for their approach to the administration of cricket in the parish as well as their emphasis on youth.