The England & Wales Cricket Board signed a five-year deal with New Balance to become the official kit supplier to ECB and the England cricket teams. The deal includes providing match and training wear to all England teams including the men's and women's Test, one-day and T20 sides as well as the Lions and all four England disability teams. The relationship will begin with the men's one-day int'l series against Ireland, starting on May 5. It will also encompass this summer's Int'l Cricket Council Champions Trophy and the ICC Women's World Cup, plus the men's and women's Ashes series in Australia this winter (ECB). THE DRUM's Tony Connelly reported England will revert to its "traditional cream Test-match kit with the three lions restored to the centre of an old-fashioned cable knit sweater." The return of the traditional cream-colored cable knit sweater is "likely to please cricket purists" who were "critical" of adidas' decision to adapt an all-white strip when the German brand became kit suppliers in '08 (THE DRUM, 4/5).
