The England and Wales Cricket Board has "signed a four-year contract with Royal London to become the headline sponsor of all domestic one-day cricket from next season," according to SKY SPORTS. Royal London, which is described as the U.K.'s "largest mutual life and pensions company," will back one-day cricket at int'l, county and recreational level from next season, "completing a restructuring of ECB sponsorship." The ECB now has "different backers for each of the game's three formats," with Investec for Test cricket and NatWest for Twenty20 cricket, while LV= "will continue to back the County Championship" (SKY SPORTS, 11/7). MONEY MARKETING's Michael Glenister reported the deal, which starts next year, "will include the Royal London men’s and women’s one-day internationals, the Royal London one-day country cup, the Royal London national club championship, and the Royal London junior county cup." The firm announced plans last month "to scrap the Scottish Life, Bright Grey and Scottish Provident brands." They will "all be brought under the Royal London name over the next two years" (MONEY MARKETING, 11/7).
