CAPE TOWN: Cricket South Africa have confirmed that it has extended its agreement with global sports retail brand New Balance as its official and exclusive kit and merchandise partner till 2023, South African news agency Independent Online reports.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce that New Balance will be our official apparel and footwear supplier for a further five years,” CSA CEO Thabang Moroe told the newswire.
“It is confirmation that a significant global brand continues to have every confidence in our administration, our governance and our players for another considerable period of time.
“New Balance is one of the big players in the world of sports technical apparel and they are involved around the world with such diverse sporting codes as athletics, basketball, European soccer, Australian Rules Football, tennis and, by no means least, cricket.
“Their individual sponsorships include our own Dale Steyn, Temba Bavuma, Dave Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Vernon Philander, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris, and Junior Dala. I am sure these players would be the first to confirm that the technical support they have received from New Balance over the years has played an important role in their successes.
“Comfort at the crease is a key ingredient for any successful international cricketer. The demands that Dale’s particular skill requires makes it essential that he can benefit from the industry’s latest technical and innovation advances.
“As we all know most international cricket these days is played on the Asian sub-continent and its surrounding areas where climatic conditions are extremely challenging, and it is important that our players have the most comfortable apparel available to them to allow them to compete at their optimal level.”
The American apparel company won’t just be involved with the Proteas men’s and women’s national senior teams, but will extend its hand to CSA’s various development programmes, for which the board had spent 340 million rands ($25.5 million) in 2017-18.
“A key element of our new deal with New Balance is the greater contribution they will make to cricket development and specifically to our fast-growing Community Hubs and Regional Performance Centre programmes,” Moroe signed off.
