Lara signs two-year sponsorship deal with C&W
Guyana Chronicle
October 24, 2003
ST JOHN’S, Antigua, (CMC) -- West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara signed a two-year sponsorship agreement on Wednesday with Cable & Wireless to do television and print advertisements for the British telecommunications giant.
Lisa Agard, Cable & Wireless executive vice-president legal, regulatory and public policy, and Lara initialled the deal at the Jolly Beach Resort, but the value of the agreement was not disclosed.
“We are celebrating the start of a great partnership which is deeply symbolic of our respective commitments to the Caribbean,” Agard remarked at the signing ceremony.
“Like Brian, who has re-dedicated himself to cricket by the exemplary leadership that he has displayed on resuming the captaincy, Cable & Wireless continues its unstinting support of West Indies cricket through its long association with the West Indies Cricket Board.”
Agard added that Lara’s stance at the negotiating table should put the West Indies team in good stead ahead of their tour of southern Africa.
“If Brian is as tough and gritty on the field as he was in the negotiations with us, I have every confidence that the West Indies team will redeem itself in the upcoming tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa,” she said.
“Let me, therefore, wish the touring party every success as it prepares for overseas duty.”
Lara said he was cognisant of the effort that his players will have to show on their tour of Africa.
“Our trips away from home have not been very successful and that’s one of the aims of this present team leaving the shores of the West Indies,” he commented.
“It is to ensure that we bring back success, especially in places like Zimbabwe and, definitely, as we all know what happened back in 1998-99, in South Africa, when we lost all five Test matches and lost the limited-overs series 6-1.
We will definitely be looking to avenge those.”
Lara noted that since he began playing for the West Indies in 1990, the only sponsor he knew has been Cable & Wireless, and he called on the company and the WICB to sign an agreement for the 2007 World Cup to be staged in the Caribbean.
“We hope that Cable & Wireless and the WICB can definitely shake hands very soon to ensure the continued support of West Indies cricket will be there,” Lara said.
He told C&W that they should think about assisting other regional players because one of them could eclipse the world record Australian Matthew Hayden now holds of 380 for the highest individual score in Test made against Zimbabwe earlier this month.
Hayden had erased Lara’s 375 made at Antigua Recreation Ground in April 1994.
Lara said his second stint as captain has taught him what the job entails.
“I assure you that I’ll be representing not only myself, but Cable & Wireless and West Indian people in a very high manner every time I wear that burgundy cap,” he concluded.
West Indies face Zimbabwe in two Tests and five limited-overs internationals before tackling world No.2 South Africa in four Tests and five limited-overs internationals.