Commonwealth Bank has announced that its sponsorship of Cricket Australia will come to an end in June 2025 after 37 years.
Commonwealth Bank group executive of marketing and corporate affairs, Monique Macleod, said that the company has enjoyed being a part of Australian Cricket over the years.
The commitment to cricket, she said, was driven by a desire to help make it an inclusive sport for the country, a dream she said the company is pleased to “have helped make a reality”.
“When CommBank joined forces with Cricket Australia in 1987, it was a year for the history books,” said Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley.
“Lyn Larsen led the women’s team to victory against England in the Women’s Ashes, and Allan Border captained the men’s team in their first Cricket World Cup victory.
“Cricket has come a long way since then – and we’re incredibly grateful to CommBank for the role they’ve played in driving the game forward”.
Highlights of the Bank’s 26 years of supporting women’s cricket have included the Australian women’s team’s victory at the 2020 ICC Women’s World Cup and the current women’s team’s number-one world ranking.
Macleod cited the increase in popularity of the women’s game as a particular source of pride for the Bank. “Watching the women’s game go from strength to strength and seeing so many of our amazing women cricketers inspire young girls to pick up a bat or a ball is something the Bank’s incredibly proud of,” Macleod said.
Since CommBank and Cricket Australia began working together 37 years ago, highlights have included:
- Sponsoring the men’s Test Series, including the Men’s Ashes in 2013.
- Since 2017, this investment has contributed to 22 per cent growth in participation among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 95 per cent growth in participation among people with a disability, and 48 per cent growth in participation among culturally diverse communities.
- Increasing our investment in women’s and diversity initiatives in 2017, including supporting Australia’s national disability teams to get access to the same high-performance support other elite representative cricket teams receive, and enabling Australia’s Indigenous women’s and men’s squads to tour England in 2018 to commemorate the renowned all-Aboriginal team tour of England in 1868.
- Supporting the Australian Women’s Cricket team in 2020 as they triumphed in front of more than 86,000 fans in the ICC 2020 T20 World Cup Final at the MCG, breaking attendance and viewership records, and driving real progress in the women’s game.
- Running the CommBank Baggy Green Tour of Shane Warne’s iconic cap in 2020 to raise money for local communities hit hardest by bushfires and drought.
- By 2024, together with Cricket Australia, contributing $9m to the Growing Cricket for Girls Fund, benefiting more than 35,000 junior girls’ players and supporting the growth of 1500 new girls’ teams.
Macleod said the Bank would continue to support sport and is looking forward to new opportunities.
