CRICKET in Hong Kong, for so long run on a shoe-string budget, may soon have the luxury of being more spendthrift - due to a million-dollar sponsorship deal currently in the works.
The Hong Kong Cricket Association are hammering out a lucrative agreement with a number of different sponsors to cover all aspects of the 1994/95 season.
Sponsorship for the Saturday and Sunday Leagues, and the two Knockout Cup tournaments are up for renewal. And HKCA officials are hopeful that they will soon have signed sponsors willing to back cricket to the hilt.
And these sponsors are not likely to be new players in the game. Connaught, who have backed the Saturday and Sunday Leagues for the past two seasons, have indicated that they are willing to continue.
But will the Association be willing to accept the same amount of financial backing? (Last season it was in the region of $130,000 and substantially less, the season before).
Apparently not, as cricket has found out, money and lots of it, is needed as they are trying to develop the game locally and to keep standards at the top on an even keel.
