Irish board honour Bob Kerr

The Irish Cricket Union has announced that the Irish Senior Cup has been renamed, and will be known as the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup in memory of the former ICU chairman and president.

Kerr died suddenly in Jamaica where he was supporting Ireland during their recent World Cup campaign. He was president of the ICU in 2004, and chairman from 2000 to 2001. At the time of his death he was also the chairman of the North West Cricket Union.

Tom Prior, the ICU president, said: "The ICU is extremely grateful to Hope Kerr for her formal patronage of this prestigious competition. Bob was a great supporter of the Irish Senior Cup and I believe it is very appropriate that his name will now be commemorated in such a manner. The generous contribution made will go specifically towards the development of youth cricket in Ireland."

Hope Kerr said, "My husband Bob was a real enthusiast for cricket, and the All-Ireland dimension of the game was particularly important to him. For that reason I am very pleased to give his name to this Senior All-Ireland Trophy."

The Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup gets under way on Saturday with 32 teams participating in the opening round.