UK mutual life and pensions company Royal London has agreed a four-year deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board to become the title sponsor of the national governing body’s one-day cricket competitions from 2014.
The deal covers matches played at international, county and recreational levels, with the Royal London one-day internationals seeing England play 40 matches over a four-year period against Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa.
Over the same time frame, Royal London will also lend its name to women’s ODIs; the one-day cup 50-over tournament contested by England’s first-class counties; the National Club Championship comprised of 256 clubs across England and Wales; and the Junior County Cups, where boys and girls representative sides ranging from under-13 to under-17 level compete.
Royal London succeeds Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, which have supported domestic one-day cricket in England since 2005.
The company also replaces another banking group, NatWest, on the international stage in line with the ECB’s realigned sponsorship policy to have game-wide title sponsorship for each format.
NatWest is now the sponsor for all Twenty20 competitions, while asset management specialist Investec and insurance group LV= will continue to back Test cricket and the County Championship respectively.