G Hawthorne: Youth, development gain as big business bats for UCB (22 Aug 1997)

Youth and development stand to gain as big business bats for UCB

By Guy Hawthorne

The United Cricket Board will budget more than R10-million ($2.1 mil) for youth and development in 1997/8, a substantial increase from the R7-million set aside for this purpose last season.

Details of the budget were released yesterday and although only R8 870 000 has so far been allocated, additional funds will be realised through A significant contribution from (SA Cellular phone network) MTN, a possible donation from PPC cement and around R800 000 from the UCB's 10 official suppliers.

The major portion of the budget is from the coffers of the UCB (R 2 456 000). Other notable contributions have come from the mini cricket sponsors Bakers (R1 900 000) an, with R1 470 000 having been set aside for development from domestic and international tour gates.

The money be used in a number of different areas, from the purchase of equipment and clothing to the funding of coaching courses and the financing of national junior cricket weeks, in which 204 teams will have participated by the end of the season.

In assisting the provinces to operate their development programmes, the UCB has allocated R4 192 000. Each province will receive R380 000.

The laudable PPC project, through which cement pitches or nets are laid in disadvantaged areas, has already acheived pleasing results with 135 concrete pitches and 154 nets already having been completed. The UCB's target is to have laid 1000 such pitches by the end of the decade.

Another significant contributor was the donation by Standard Bank - who this year are also contributing R600 000 for youth and development - of 105 scoreboards for use at urban and rural cricket grounds throughout the country.

Source:: The Star