Umpires Go To Specsavers With ECB
The England and Wales Cricket Board has agreed a three-year sponsorship deal with Specsavers, who become the Official Optometry and Hearing Partner of the governing body and the principal partner of the Association of Cricket Officials, while ECB has also launched a search for cricket’s ‘soundtrack to the summer’.
As part of the deal Specsavers will benefit from branding on clothing worn by all umpires in First Class county cricket.
Specsavers will also sponsor a number of awards for umpires and its branding will be worn by umpires in the later stages of national club and age-group competitions.
ECB chief executive David Collier said of the announcement: ‘This partnership is of great benefit to the ECB, ACO and the game’s umpires themselves.’
‘It recognises the importance of umpires and officials and ECB is indebted to Specsavers for this sponsorship.’
Richard Holmes, the Specsavers managing director, added: ‘Technological advancements in recent years have certainly helped umpires but we will always rely on their personal judgements too and at Specsavers we are glad to do our bit where we can to help ensure they get the best possible support to do their job.’
Specsavers branding appeared on umpires’ clothing for the first time during the opening round of LV= County Championship fixtures last weekend.
Meanwhile, the ECB has also announced a nationwide search to create cricket’s soundtrack to the summer featuring fans’ favourite summer songs.
With a majority of fixtures in the new NatWest T20 Blast season taking place on Friday nights throughout the summer, the ECB is searching for a playlist that best represents the summer for fans and reflects the atmosphere that will be experienced during the 133 fixtures.
In April, each of the 18 county clubs across England and Wales will ask their fans to submit the song that reminds them most of the summer with each county then selecting the most popular song to be included in an 18 song shortlist.
Fans will then go head-to-head against other counties to vote for their favourite tunes, with the top ten making up the NatWest T20 Blast Summer Anthems playlist and being played at games throughout the season.
The new NatWest T20 Blast competition kicks off on Friday 16th May, taking place over 11 weeks with a majority of fixtures being played on Friday nights. The re-launched format of T20 will offer fast-paced cricket with fours smashed, sixes launched and wickets cart wheeling – all packed into three hours.
Cricket lovers will be able to submit their song choice through their county’s social media channels from Friday 4th to Friday 11th April with a final shortlist of 18 songs being announced on Monday 14th April. Following a period of voting, the final NatWest T20 Blast Summer Anthems Playlist will be announced ahead of the start of the NatWest T20 Blast season on Wednesday 30th April.
