CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), Robert Bryan, believes the restructuring of the local Twenty20 (T20) competition is likely to increase the commercial viability of the sport.

According to Bryan, the new-look season which is expected to run from February to August next year has been structured to attract sponsorship for the cash-strapped body.

“I think the design of the new programme is geared to ensure the ability for sponsors to get value out of being a sponsor. We have commitments, but we aren’t ready to announce them as yet. Hopefully, in another couple of weeks, we can speak more specifically to the programme and its funding,” he said.

After the recent press briefing to announce the appointment of Augustine ‘Gus’ Logie as the head coach of the senior team, Bryan told the Observer that special focus will be placed on the T20 format.

“We want to put specific focus on T20 cricket where we can extract the full value of the excitement of that format. Once those schedules come out, persons will see that there will be a definite focus to push cricket through Sabina Park and Trelawny (Multi-Purpose Stadium).

“What we want to do with certain critical phases of the competition is to make sure that those are played in controlled venues, in circumstances where we can focus on getting spectators in; concentrate on media coverage and commercial branding and all those things,” he said.

Bryan headed the Jamaica Local Organising Committee during West Indies’ hosting of the ICC 50-overs World Cup back in 2007 and was subsequently appointed tournament director for the 2010 Twenty20 equivalent, which was also held in the region.

He said contingency planning was done while preparing the local cricket club schedule to offset the possible effects of seasonal rainy weather during the seven month-long season.

“We’ve taken the weather into consideration, and the season also has its windows for international cricket being played here. The season also has rain days and rain options so the schedule has taken into account that possibility as much as we can provide for,” Bryan said.

The move from the JCA to revamp local club T20 cricket competition is expected to garner support from many cricket pundits. In the past, the Knock-out format of the competition was criticised for offering limited practice for potential national representatives and was identified as a reason for Jamaica’s poor showing in the regional T20.

The Jamaicans finished fourth at last season’s inaugural Caribbean T20 tournament after suffering semi-final and third-place play-off losses against Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, respectively.

The country’s best finish in the T20 came during the defunct Stanford 20/20 in 2008 when the Junior Bennett-coached team lost to Trinidad & Tobago in the final.