New four-year deal with RSA confirmed

CRICKETIRISH CRICKET'S continued success on the pitch has been rewarded with a new four-year sponsorship deal with RSA Insurance that will see the company increase both the financial package and the scope of its range throughout the sport on this island.

Although no figure was put on the package at yesterday’s launch at the company’s headquarters in Sandyford, it is understood to be a significant improvement on the estimated €1 million previous arrangement, while the extended scope will see the funds trickle down from the elite senior sides all the way to a new grassroots initiative.

Also included in the deal, which ties in closely with Cricket Ireland’s recently-announced four-year strategic plan, is direct funding towards new domestic competitions, including the return of interprovincial cricket, which will start this summer with a series of matches.

In time, this will pave the way to establishing a first-class cricketing structure on the island, one of the prerequisites of Cricket Ireland’s stated aim of obtaining Test status by 2020.

In welcoming the extended deal, Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom said: “We are delighted to further cement our partnership with such a major Irish and global company as RSA for a further four years.

“This represents a tangible vote of confidence, not just in what our talented players have achieved on the pitch, but also in Cricket Ireland’s new strategic objective and for our domestic and international growth ambition.”

Centrepiece at yesterday’s announcement was the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier trophy, which Ireland claimed in Dubai recently after winning 10 straight games. They now go on to play in September’s finals in Sri Lanka, their fifth major tournament in six attempts, where they will face Australia and West Indies, a side they now lead in the T20 world rankings after rising up to eighth spot in the ICC list.

Although the results of the frontline teams will remain the key to Ireland’s aims of moving up the rankings, RSA chief executive Philip Smith was keen to point out the broader scope contained in the new sponsorship deal.

He said: “Over the last few years, the achievement of Cricket Ireland in firmly establishing this country as the leading non-Test nation in world cricket has been second to none.

“While maintaining our sponsorship of Ireland’s national cricket teams, exciting new developments such as the new domestic competitions, grassroots and key event programmes will see RSA support the development of the game at all levels across the country.”