ITC out of sports sponsorship

Tobacco giant ITC Ltd on Thursday announced its withdrawal from all sports sponsorship. This was in keeping with the Indian government's proposed anti tobacco legislation announced on Tuesday. "In a constructive spirit and to avoid any ongoing controversy, ITC has decided to voluntarily withdraw from all sponsorship of sporting activities irrespective of the legal position on the subject," the company said in a press release.

ITC had set up a separate brand called `Wills Sports' which sells sports accessories. Wills Sports already has two retail outlets in New Delhi. ITC are also probably the biggest promoters of Indian cricket and in fact the company was the main sponsor for the 1996 World Cup held in the sub continent. ITC spends annually around Rs 10 to 15 crore on an average on the Indian cricket team, assuming that the team plays eight to ten Tests and about 30 to 40 ODIs a year.

Inter-state women's tourney from February 12

The Inter-State South Zone women's cricket championship will be held in Chennai from February 12 to 16. According to a Tamil Nadu Women's Cricket Association release, five teams - Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Kerala, Karnataka and Air India, will compete for honours in the five-day championship. The two top teams among them would qualify to play in the senior National to be held in Calcutta from Feb 21.

The following are the matches (50 overs a side) :

Feb 12 : Tamil Nadu vs Kerala and Air India vs Karnataka; Feb 13 : Andhra vs Air India and Kerala vs Karnataka; Feb 14 : Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka and Kerala vs Andhra; Feb 15 : Andhra vs Karnataka and Tamil Nadu vs Air India; Feb 16 : Tamil Nadu vs Andhra and Kerala vs Air India.

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