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Standard Bank has announced a R5 million 2003 World Cup incentive.
The World Cup will be the most important event during our renewed sponsorship of South African one-day cricket.
The bank has designed a lucrative incentive that will benefit the 2003 World Cup squad and cricket development. The bank will pay R1 million into a kitty for every one of five selected limited overs series the national team wins before the World Cup. The first series, which could earn the team R1 million, is the current tour to the West Indies. The other four selected series are: the series against India, two against Australia and the triangular involving Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The team could accumulate R5 million in the kitty and if it wins the 2003 World Cup, 20% of the kitty (R1 million) will be donated to a designated development project and the remaining R4 million will be shared among the squad. However, if the squad does not win the competition but plays in the final, it will not walk away empty handed. The team will receive 30% of the amount accumulated in the kitty while a proportional amount will be donated to cricket development.
The R5 million kitty should be a huge incentive, not only for the team to win five matches of the forthcoming series and the World Cup, but also for players to ensure they are selected for the World Cup squad. The added incentive is that if they win, cricket development will receive a funding boost.
Says Shaun Pollock, national team captain: "As a player, it is great to have a sponsor like Standard Bank behind you and the bank has really been a loyal supporter of our team. For us, it's particularly good to have the World Cup incentive. We'll be trying our best to win the World Cup - for ourselves, for our country, for our sponsors and for the people who can benefit from the development aspects of the incentive."
Although members of the national limited overs team will retain their current playing numbers on the back of their shirts, the bank has also initiated a new numbering system. Team members will have a unique player number assigned to them. These numbers, allocated according to when players were selected for the national limited overs team since South Africa's readmission to international competition, appear on their caps and shirt collars. For example, Shaun Pollock is number 38 as he was the 38th player selected to play for the South African team and Alan Donald number 11, Jonty Rhodes 15 and Justin Ontong 65.
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