KFC Cup

The KFC Cup is the current name of the domestic one-day cricket competition in the West Indies, named after its chief sponsor, the fast food chain KFC. In recent years, it has been run over a week's time as a group stage followed by knock-out stages, unlike the sister competitions, the ING Cup in Australia and National League in England, which run as league competitions over the course of six months. Jamaica are the current holders, after they beat Trinidad and Tobago in the final. Guyana is the team to have won it most, with nine titles, although two of them have been shared. Trinidad and Tobago are second in that history, having won eight titles (including one shared).

Competing teams

In the 2005–06 edition of the KFC Cup, the six permanent first class regions of the West Indies contested the tournament:

* Barbados
* Guyana
* Jamaica
* Leeward Islands
* Trinidad and Tobago
*

These are also the only six teams to have won the tournament. From 1997–98 to 2003–04 the tournament was also open to other countries and teams, and Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Canada and the United States have all taken part. The island federations of the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands have also been split at times to give teams such as Antigua and Barbuda, the Rest of the Leeward Islands, Northern Windward Islands, Southern Windward Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Rest of the Windward Islands. Other West Indian domestic teams that have taken part include a University of the West Indies cricket team and most recently (in the 2007-08 edition) a Combined Colleges and Campus cricket team and the West Indian Under-19 cricket team.

History

The first official senior limited overs game in the West Indies was played on 18 March 1970, between a touring Duke of Norfolk's XI and the Barbados team. Three years later, a trial knock-out tournament named the "Banks Trophy" — which has been given List A status — was arranged between Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados beat Guyana in the final by nine runs.

Then, there were no more official one-day competitions until February 1976, when the first official one-day tournament named the "Gillette Cup" was held between the four teams making up the Banks Trophy, along with the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands. The Gillette Cup had two groups of three teams, each team playing each other once, and with the winners progressing to the final. Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago — also the teams who shared the 1975–76 Carib Beer Cup — won their groups and played off in the final at Kensington Oval, and Barbados won the first final by 43 runs. Those two teams also faced off in the next season's final, and once again Barbados prevailed.

The next season, the tournament was renamed the "Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy", named after two large shipping companies in the area, with Leeward Islands and Jamaica progressing from the two groups. However, the final, scheduled to be held at the Antigua Recreation Ground on 8 April 1977, was rained off, and the teams shared the trophy. A shared trophy has happened twice more in the history of the tournament. Three more teams became winners in the next four seasons, before Jamaica began a row of finals appearances, starting with qualifying for the 1982–83 final. They then turned up in six successive finals from 1983 to 1988, winning three of them to pass Barbados on the all-time winners list.

In 1988–89 the tournament was renamed to the "Geddes Grant Shield", and with that, Jamaica's run of finals appearances was ended, as they were knocked out by Windward Islands on run rate per wicket lost. The Windward Islands went on to the final with Guyana, and after being set 155 to win, they lost their first three wickets for five runs. Opener Darwin Telemaque then put on 43 with captain Julian Charles before retiring hurt, and two wickets from Guyana captain Roger Harper sent the Windwards to 85 for 6. Needing 70, and with only three men left, Telemaque returned - only to have two of his partners run out, and the Windwards were 99 for 8. Telemaque stuck in, however, adding 39 with Ian Allen, before number 11 Dominique Lewis came in to bat in his List A debut with 17 needed. It came down to the last over, and the Windwards managed to take the winning runs, becoming one-wicket victors.

The next tournaments were not as close, although Jamaica's win in 1990–91 - their fourth in eight seasons, and their last for a further eight - also came down to the last over, but then with four wickets in hand. Then, in 1992–93 the era of the Leeward Islands began. They won three successive titles — admittedly with the first one rained off, but the next two won outright — before fading back to last place in their three-team group in 1995–96, beaten by the two teams who would later try to contest the final, but had to share the trophy due to rain. The tournament was also renamed in 1994–95, becoming the "Shell/Sandals Trophy".

The next season saw two new teams for the first time, as Bermuda and Canada joined, but both finished bottom of their groups with neither managing to win any of their six games. Trinidad and Tobago won the tournament, and also reached the semi-finals of the next season's tournament, which was named the "Red Stripe Bowl" after the beer brand Red Stripe. The tournament was won by the Leeward Islands, the last of their five titles as of 2005, while Bermuda and Canada once again went winless.

By the end of the 1990s, the tournament had been established as an early-season feature, with the semi-finals and finals being held in Jamaica and the first class matches in the Busta Cup (now Carib Beer Cup) coming after the Red Stripe Bowl had been completed. In the last of these opening-season tournaments in the 20th century Jamaica won after beating Leeward Islands in the final, also their fifth and last victory to date. 2000–01 saw two more teams invited, and the first match win by one of the non-first class teams against a first class teams - the United States beat Barbados by two wickets, but it didn't prevent them from coming last in the group. The Windward Islands won, their second and last title to date, after beating the Leeward Islands in the final. The 2001–02 season saw all four non-first class teams excluded, and instead the Island teams were split — Leeward Islands were divided into Antigua and Barbuda and the Rest, while the Windward Islands were divided into a North and a South group. All four teams finished in third or fourth place of their respective four-team groups, as Guyana won the title.

The next season saw even more changes. The North and South approach for the Windwards was scrapped, and it was instead split into a team for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and another for the Rest (who finished last), a University of the West Indies team was introduced, and Canada returned. Neither team had an impact on the finals, though Canada could have reached the semi-final with a win over Trinidad and Tobago — however, they were bowled out for 55 in a 175-run defeat to finish third in the group. Trinidad and Tobago was then knocked out at the semi-final stage, while Barbados went on to win. The next season saw St Vincent compete with the Windward Islands again, while the West Indies Under-19 team replaced them - they finished fourth in their five-team group, and once again the four nation teams qualified for the final, with Guyana beating Barbados.

The 2004–05 tournament saw a change to a format that's held for the last two seasons. The tournament — named the "Regional One-Day Tournament" for lack of a sponsor — was now held in Guyana and Barbados instead of Jamaica, and the traditional six teams competed, with Guyana reaching the final but falling to Trinidad and Tobago. The next season saw a change of name to the current, the "KFC Cup", and Guyana won on the Duckworth-Lewis method after the umpires stopped the game after the 49th over with two runs to get. The Guyanese team had been offered the light earlier, but not realising they were ahead on Duckworth-Lewis, they chose to bat on, and it was enough to win the game. [http://www.guyanachronicle.com/ARCHIVES/archive%2017-10-05.html#Anchor----------31737]

Current structure

The KFC Cup of 2005–06 had an initial one-week round robin group stage in Barbados, where each team played the others once. The four top teams then progressed to the semi-finals in Guyana, with number one on the league ladder playing number four and number two playing number three, and the winners of the semi-finals faced off in the final for the trophy.

Points awarded at the round robin stage:

* 4 points for a win
* 2 points for a tie
* 0 points for a loss
* 1 bonus point for wins where the net run rate of the winner was above a certain quotient - the highest where it was not awarded was 1.18, the lowest it was awarded for was 1.27.

Winners

Number of wins by team (since 1972-73)

References

* [http://www.cricinfo.com Cricinfo]
* [http://www.caribbeancricket.com CaribbeanCricket.com]
* [http://www.cricketarchive.com CricketArchive]