SL: Singer Tourney's Prize Bonanza For Players (29 Jun 1996)

29 June 1996

Singer`s prize bonanza for players

By Sa`adi Thawfeeq

The second Singer World Series promises a lot of riches for players of the four participating countries - host Sri Lanka, Australia, India and Zimbabwe.

The `Player of the Series` for instance has the option of choosing between a luxury car and a four-wheel drive jeep in addition to standing to win other prize monies for individual performances totalling over US $ 100,000.

"As sole promoter and sponsor of this high profile international cricketing event we hope this tournament, which is the second in the series would have a long lease of life,`` said Singer (Sri Lanka) merchandising and promotions manager Jaliya Jayasuriya at a press conference held at Hotel (Lanka) Oberoi on Friday.

The tournament is being promoted and sponsored by Singer in association with the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka under the auspices of the International Cricket Council (ICC) from August 24 - September 7.

"This is cricket`s greatest year. Therefore, we believe the interest in the tournament will be particularly high as it will see the current one-day world champions Sri Lanka take on two former World champions, India and Australia and emerging cricketing nation Zimbabwe,`` said Jayasuriya.

"With this galaxy of cricketing talent on show, we are sure to witness some entertaining cricket of the highest standard,`` he said.

All seven matches will be telecast `live` on TNL locally, and by Star TV and other TV networks universally, to an estimated global viewing audience of around 500 million people in all continents.

There will be two neutral umpires officiating at all matches along with those from Sri Lanka. In addition, an international match referee nominated by the ICC will also be present at all matches. A reserve day is being provided after the scheduled date of each game as an insurance against inclement weather which nearly ruined the inaugural tournament held two years ago.

"We commenced the sponsorship of cricket way back in 1977 with the inter-club six-a-side tournament. Today, Singer is involved in sponsoring international cricketing events in the Middle East, Far East and in Sri Lanka,`` said Jayasuriya.

The product sponsors of the tournament who have joined hands with Singer are : Coca Cola (official soft drink), Mobitel (official cellular phone), CIC Dulux (official paint), Keells (official food supplier), Milo (official health drink), Aitken Spence (official travel agent), Air Lanka (official carrier), Lion (official beer), Hotel Lanka Oberoi (official hotel) and the company gifting the vehicle for the `Player of the Series`.

Sri Lanka Cricket Board president Upali Dharmadasa said that Singer has always been a great benefactor towards sports specially cricket.

He said that Singer took the whole world by surprise when they decided to first conduct this tournament in 1994. "It was a major step Sri Lanka cricket had taken in world cricket,`` he said.

"It was Singer who played a great role in our World Cup victory by sponsoring our cricket team which brought glory to the country``.

"A lot of effort was made by both Singer and Cricket Board officials to make this World Series a reality. The co-ordination involved in getting Australia, India, and Zimbabwe together at one venue at the same time speaks volumes towards this effort,`` he said.

Dharmadasa also thanked Singer chairman Hemaka Amarasuriya for readily agreeing to meet the request for an increase in licence fee.

Source :: Daily News (http.//www.lanka.net)