The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Castrol, the world’s leading lubricant company, today announced an agreement that makes Castrol the official performance partner of ICC with a unique presence at all ICC cricket events for the next five years.
The agreement awards Castrol a worldwide rights package from 2010 until 2015 and will include the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which will take place in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, as well as all other ICC tournaments up to and including the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
Castrol’s commitment to cricket is a significant addition to the company’s current portfolio of sponsorships, which includes the recently concluded 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa™, the UEFA EURO 2012 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil.
ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “This is fantastic news for our great sport. For us to attract a commercial partner of Castrol’s calibre is another indication of the excellent reputation and healthy state of international cricket. It reconfirms how top brands want to be associated with cricket and its great spirit. Even in these challenging times cricket’s popularity among spectators, broadcasters and sponsors is as strong as ever”.
“As we prepare for what will be a great celebration of the game at our flagship event next year, we are fortunate to have a group of top-class partners whose commitment to the game is unquestioned. Without that commitment we would not be in a position to help our 105 Members grow the game as they do around the world.”
Commenting on the sponsorship, Castrol’s Regional Vice President, Asia & Pacific Region – Naveen Kshatriya said: “Cricket is a sport that is passionately followed across many parts of the world. While no other game touches the hearts and minds in the Asian sub-continent as cricket does, the game is also very popular in many other important Castrol markets like Australasia, South Africa and the UK.
“We are indeed delighted to partner with the ICC as its ‘performance partner’. Castrol products and services are all about delivering high performance and this association will further strengthen
the relationship which we enjoy with all our customers and consumers. We intend leveraging this association to help bring into our fold millions of new consumers in the coming years.”
A key factor underpinning Castrol’s success in business over the past 100 years is its ability to use analysis to improve performance in the most extreme conditions in sport on land, sea and air. Castrol, with the help of cricket experts like Harsha Bhogle, has applied this same skill to analyzing performance in cricket to devise the Castrol Index.
As the official performance partner of the ICC, Castrol will bring this system to the stadium audience of ICC’s premier cricket events like the ICC Cricket World Cup and ICC World Twenty20 as an index on the match day. By appearing on the stadium replay screens at crucial points of the game, the Castrol Index for match days will fuel the audience’s passion and excitement in the game by updating them real-time on which team is leading and which players are the top performers at that point in the game.
Castrol already has a strong association with cricket and with its global experience and expertise in leveraging sports sponsorships, Castrol is poised to deliver unique insights and experiences for cricket lovers all over the world.
