Lyndel Wright - file

The pursuit of sponsorships to help with the implementation of several new plans and programmes will be one of the top priorities of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) executive, according to newly elected president, Lyndel 'Muddy' Wright.

According to Wright, who defeated businessman and incumbent president Paul Campbell 55-35 on Wednesday, at the association's biannual general meeting, no association that is largely volunteer, as the JCA is, can be run effectively without the financial support of both the private and public sectors.

financial support

This lack of financial support, he says, has been the case with the JCA in recent years, and with his new executive and board members, he is looking forward to changing this reality.

"One of the areas that we plan to focus on is the generation of sponsorships so that we can carry out our plans and programmes to properly develop our players for Twenty20, 50-Overs, two-day and four-day formats of the game," he said.

"This should then improve the quality of play, and help to make the sport popular again," he added.

Other members of Wright's seven-member executive, who were elected unopposed after it was announced that he had won, include Milton Henry (first vice-president), Dr Donald Bennett (second vice-president), Fritz Harris (secretary), Ian Brown (assistant secretary), Nigel Logan (treasurer) and Maurice Clarke (assistant treasurer).

The JCA, which has struggled to gain sponsorship under the tenure of Campbell, had to rationalise its competitions this season due to a lack of finances, with its much-promoted two-day semi-professional Super League having to be scrapped.

It has been replaced by the traditional Senior Cup, which has been expanded to include all clubs and parishes, and will be played over a two-month period.

It is also unclear as to what are the association's plans regarding 50-Overs and Twenty20 cricket competitions, the latter of which was not played last season, and affected Jamaica's performance in the cash-rich Caribbean Twenty20 tournament.