LIVINGSTON SCOTT, STAR Writer

SCOTIABANK Jamaica strengthened its support of local youth cricket by expanding the 2015 ScotiaBank/WIBC Kiddies Cricket programme, which was launched at Sabina Park yesterday.

The tournament, which started on Thursday, will run over two months. Twice the number of schools registered, bringing the participating schools to 140, with 8,000 boys and girls. One coach has been assigned to each parish.

A special-skills programme has been added, with the aim of honing the youngsters' basic bowling and batting technique.

It is also compulsory for four girls (two pairs) to be part of every team, and they are only allowed to bowl to each other.

Monique Todd, vice-president for marketing, public and corporate affairs, told STAR Sports that Scotia is committed to developing cricket in the region.

"Cricket is a very intrinsic part of our culture. One of the goals we want to bring back is the love of cricket."

Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) Chief Executive Officer Courtney Francis described the West Indies Cricket Board and Jamaica Cricket Association-endorsed event as one of their most important programmes.

"A lot of our international players have a base through here, so it plays a significant role not only in our cricket, but, nation building. Kiddies cricket is played in all of the top cricket nations, and we are playing our role in the Caribbean to ensure that we have future good cricketers to ensure that the game is sustainable, and Scotiabank has played a significant role to ensure that," he stated.

The format of the tournament has been adjusted to include a preliminary knockout round.

After the preliminary round, 10 schools in each parish will remain to vie for parish honours. They will compete on a knockout basis until a parish champion is decided.

Parish winners will then advance to the inter-parish round, along with the winner of the special-skills competition. The inter parish round begins on March 6.