Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) renewed its sponsorship of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) National Primary and All-Age cricket competition to the tune of $2.4 million at a press conference at Sabina Park on Tuesday.

The competition, which has been in existence since 1993 and is responsible for producing over 90 per cent of the nation's national cricketers, including Jerome Taylor, Xavier Marshall and Nikita Miller, will see JNBS extending its long-standing sponsorhip to eight years, having taken over from Caribbean Cement Company in 2001.

"Our continued sponsorship of this cricket feature is indicative of the fact that we are serious about honing and developing the talents of our young people, so that they too can move on to make a significant impact on cricket at the national, and hopefully at the international level," said Judy Benjamin, sales manager of JNBS.

"This sponsorship is an investment in the sporting abilities of our young people, as well as an opportunity to influence their growth and development," she added.

Competitors

The competition, which has already started, will see 12 primary and five all-age schools, from a pool of over 250, getting a chance to represent their parish at the national level.

These parishes are then placed in geographical zones, namely West Zone, Mid Zone, East Zone and Corporate Area Zone, with the winners from each zone advancing to the national semi-finals. The grand finals will be held at Melbourne Oval later this month.

"This programme represents the foundation of our overall programme. It is primarily because of this programme why we have been and are enjoying success at the national level and would like to thank JNBS for their continued support," said JCA president, Paul Campbell.

Manchester's Woodland Primary and St Elizabeth's New Forrest All-Age are the respective defending Primary and All-Age champions of the competition, which is co-sponsored by the Sports Development Foundation.