The International Cricket Council and the leading consumer durable brand LG today announced that they have joined forces to produce and promote the LG ICC Test Championship, the LG ICC One-Day International Championship and the first ever official player rankings, the LG ICC Player Rankings.
Reiterating LG’s long term commitment to cricket, the deal encompasses the official LG ICC Test Championship, which was launched in May 2001; the LG ICC ODI Championship, launched in October 2002; and the brand new official LG ICC Player Rankings.
ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said that he was delighted that LG’s enthusiasm for cricket had helped the ICC to introduce official rankings for individual players alongside the well-established team tables.
“Since the introduction of the ICC Test Championship in May 2001 it has been our ambition to complement this with an ongoing championship table for One-Day International cricket and official player rankings,” said Mr Speed.
“The ICC ODI Championship was introduced in October 2002 and today’s announcement means that due to the support of LG we now have a full suite of official rankings,” added Mr Speed.
LG Deputy MD Mr M B Shin said that this partnership expanded the company’s long-standing involvement with international cricket.
“LG Electronics has established itself as a major international sports sponsor and has partnered with top sporting associations and bodies globally. In terms of cricket LG’s commitment to the game extends far beyond mere ads and sponsorships; we are truly committed to the development of the overall quality of the game in the long run,” said Mr. M B Shin, Deputy MD, LGEIL.
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Salil Kapoor, Head marketing, LGEIL, said, “The LG ICC Player Rankings are the first official ranking brought out by LG and ICC, and we are proud to have LG associated with the ICC. This cricket ranking is the first ranking system for cricket to have official recognition and endorsement of both the sport’s governing body and all of its members. Players, experts and fans alike will keenly follow the player rankings and in times to come the LG ICC Player Rankings will literally be the international ‘benchmark’ for all cricket stakeholders.”
The announcement of this new partnership was attended by India cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar.
“Statistics play a big role in cricket and there are no more interesting statistics than the standings of teams and the relative merits of players.The fact that all of this information is now ‘official’ is very good news for the sport its passionate fans alike. I congratulate ICC and LG for the historic association,” said Mr Gavaskar.
India captain Sourav Ganguly, who was present along with Mr Speed and Mr Gavaskar at the announcement in New Delhi, said that the introduction of officially recognised player rankings would be popular with the players.
“These player rankings have been tried and tested over many years and it is excellent news that they have now been officially recognised by the ICC and LG,” said Mr Ganguly.
Australia affirmed its top spot in the LG ICC Test Championship with a recent 3-0 home series victory over Pakistan. It also leads the way in the LG ICC ODI Championship tables in which New Zealand is its closest challenger.
There are six different tables in the LG ICC Player Rankings for batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders in Test match and One-Day International cricket. The top Test batsman is Rahul Dravid while the top Test bowler is Glenn McGrath.
Full details of the LG ICC Test Championship, the LG ICC One-Day International Championship and the LG ICC Player Rankings can be found on the official ICC website http://www.icc-cricket.com/.
Media notes:
The LG ICC Player Rankings are based on the rankings produced by Ted Dexter Associates (TDA) and sponsored by PwC for the last 18 years. TDA will continue to be involved in the on-going maintenance of these player rankings.
The official logos of the LG ICC Test Championship, the LG ICC One-Day International Championship and the LG ICC Player Rankings are available for
download in the media centre of the ICC website http://www.icc-cricket.com/.
ICC Media Contact:
Jon Long
+44 (0) 7946 545 090