Published: Jul 29, 2016, 04:20 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 29, 2016, 04:25 PM (IST)
NatWest and ECB have struck a four-year deal which starts in May 2017. NatWest will also do the branding of various teams and will takeover from Waitrose, whose contract ends in early 2017. NatWest are also the sponsors of the domestic competition knwon as the NatWest T20 Blast tournament in England. The deal will take them past 40 years of association with cricket, they became a part of English cricket in 1980. The shirt part of the deal will therefore see the NatWest name on all England teams during the summer of 2017, which will include the Champions Trophy, Women’s World Cup, along with tours by South Africa, West Indies and Ireland. READ: Ben Stokes hopes to return to England team this summer
David Wheldon, NatWest’s chief marketing officer, said: “Ever since we first established the NatWest Trophy in conjunction with the ECB in 1980, cricket has been ingrained in the DNA of NatWest and I am delighted that we will be re-invigorating this partnership by becoming the ECB’s first ever Principal Partner,” as quoted by EspnCricinfo. READ: ECB planning T20 competition to rival IPL and CPL
Under the new agreement, NatWest will also support efforts to drive participation with amateur participation at grassroot levels, while strengthening the connection between cricket fans and England’s men’s, women’s, different age-group and national disability teams. The NatWest brand would be visible on all these team’s shirts.
England’s Test Captain, Alastair Cook said, “This is great news for grassroots cricket as well as all our England teams. It’s important we continue to attract strong, committed partners to help our game grow at every level – starting at the grassroots, which is so important in creating the England stars of the future,” as quoted by ECB.
