The sponsorship is initially for the 2008 season, and discussions will be held to extend the agreement beyond this period.
The sponsorship covers not only the Men’s senior squad, but in addition for the first time will also include the Women's senior squad, the Men's A team and the Under 19’s.
The agreement will see RSA having exclusive brand sponsorship of the teams' apparel, both playing and training gear, among other collateral opportunities. The new branded shirts will be worn for the first time on Sunday in front of the Sky Sports cameras, who are covering the Ireland versus Nottinghamshire game ‘live’ from Clontarf.
Announcing the new sponsorship arrangement RSA’s Head of Marketing and Public Relations Patrick Nally commented:
“We’re delighted to partner with Cricket Ireland for the 2008 season. Under their new professional structure and leadership team CricketIrelandhas embarked on an exciting strategic development phase and set high performance standards for all national teams and for the development of the sport as a whole. Their aspiration and commitment sits very comfortably with our own brand and development objectives inIreland”.
“In 2007 the senior national team squad captured the nation’s attention with their stunning performance in the Cricket World Cup. That performance - and other strong results in recent years by each of the national teams - has improved Ireland’s standing within the international cricket community, and has resulted in extensive media exposure, both domestically and internationally.”
Welcoming the announcement, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland Warren Deutrom said: “We are delighted to be partnering with such a globally recognised blue-chip brand as RSA. Our current arrangement is just for the year, although we are hopeful of extending our relationship further into the future.”
“Together with our new name, our new governance structure and recent agreements with the England and Wales Cricket Board and our kit supplier Kukri, this new partnership with RSA will assist Cricket Ireland to put the pieces in place to provide support to all areas of the game on our shores, from the grassroots to the international arena.”
