IT WILL happen in National Premier League (NPL) football this season. Now there is a similar change of format in Jamaica's most prestigious cricket competition - the Supreme Ventures Super Cup - that will crown the team with the most points champion at the end of its league games.
There will be no semi-final, no final. That's final.
However, the top four teams in the 10-strong championship will qualify to compete for the Supreme Ventures Challenge Trophy under a knockout format in the two weeks that follow the last set of matches in the Supreme Ventures Super Cup.
Of the 10 participants, two are newcomers, Portland and Manchester, who won promotion for placing one-two in the Senior Cup.
Another innovation this year is a Cricket Skills Challenge competition geared at generating interest among youngsters. It will cater to under-12 students from primary and all-age schools, with each Super Cup team adopting schools within its surroundings and hosting them in a competition during the lunch break on day one of their home matches.
The youngsters will be challenged through accuracy by throwing at the stumps from varying distances, with parish champions being crowned and the top school overall winning two computers courtesy of Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL).
"We need to explore creative and innovative ways to grow the sport of cricket," said Sonia Davidson, SVL's assistant vice-president, corporate communications and customer service, at yesterday's launch at the Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.
"Many of these eager students who will be participating in this skills challenge may very well be the Super Cup players of tomorrow," she said.
The national league championship is scheduled to bowl off with a full slate of matches this weekend, highlighted by a crack match-up between defending champions Manchester and Melbourne at Melbourne in one of two Sunday matches.
ACTION STARTS SATURDAY
Lucas will host last year's beaten finalists Jamaica Defence Force on Sunday also.
Saturday will mark the start of the championship with St. Catherine Cricket Club hosting the Kingston Tigers at Chedwin Park, St. Mary travelling to St. Bess to challenge St. Elizabeth at Alpart and Portland hosting Westmoreland at Folly Oval.
At the launch, Davidson handed over the second tranche of her company's three-year $45 million commitment to Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) president Jackie Hendriks.
"When one takes into account what a team can earn from match incentives during the season, including the championship prize money, teams playing to their full potential this year could see themselves being even more richly rewarded," Hendriks said.
He also spoke of a move towards semi-professionalism over a three-year period and pointed out that the competition was being started earlier this season as a strengthening exercise, to facilitate players who will leave later to take up contracts in England.
