Sri Lanka: Singer given a new lease (23 October 1998)

23 October 1998

Sri Lanka: Singer given a new lease

By Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Official sponsors of world one-day cricket champions Sri Lanka, Singer (Sri Lanka) have been given a temporary new lease of life by the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka.

The BCCSL have extended Singer's team sponsorship till the Sharjah Champions trophy tournament which ends on November 13, to give them sufficient time to finalise the main sponsorship deal.

This means the Sri Lanka team will sport the Singer logo in the Wills knockout (mini World Cup) tournament starting in Dhaka on Saturday.

Singer's three-year sponsorship from August 1995 ended on September 30 this year, and the BCCSL called for fresh tenders before renewing the team sponsorship for the next three years.

The tenders closed on October 16, and according to BCCSL sources four companies, including Singer have shown interest in the sponsorship.

The BCCSL will take a final decision at their Executive Committee meeting on Monday.

Under Singer sponsorship the national team had a very successful run which culminated with the winning of the Wills World Cup in 1996. Overall, during the three-year period the Sri Lanka team won seven out of 14 one-day competitions and finished runner-up in four.

In the longer game, Sri Lanka won five Test series, which includes the one-off Test against England, lost four and drew three.

One of the problems the BCCSL foresees with Singer is that their sponsorship may clash with that of one of the principal sponsors of next year's World Cup in England.

Emirates Airlines, NatWest Bank, LG Electronics and Pepsi are the four principal sponsors of World Cup '99.

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