Australian cricket team shirt missing sponsorship in wake Pat Cummins’ 2022 drama

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The Australian cricket team is racing the clock to find a major sponsor ahead of the home series this summer.

Cricket Australia recently launched the men’s and women’s international kits for 2023-24, with a Commonwealth Bank logo on the women’s shirts, but no sponsor appearing on the front of the men’s shirts.

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Reports have emerged that Cricket Australia are prepared to wait until just before the first match of the summer, a Test against Pakistan in Perth on December 16, to confirm the sponsorship.

Some of the biggest stars of the men’s team, including captain Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell, have already filmed commercials and promotions without a sponsor on the shirt.

Cricket Australia have denied the men’s team shirts will feature a “clean” look and said there had been “significant interest” from companies wanting to sponsor the team.

Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc show off the sponsor-less Australian kits. Credit: Cricket Australia

“We have had significant interest from various brands, including for properties that are currently under contract,” Cricket Australia’s Stephanie Beltrame told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“The uniforms worn by our Australian cricket teams are iconic and we are comfortable taking our time to secure a great partnership for the men’s shirt that is mutually beneficial for all parties.”

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The last time the Australian team played with no sponsor on their shirt was during the mid-1990s when laws around tobacco advertising forced major sponsor Benson & Hedges to remove their logo from the kits.

The sponsorship drama comes on the back of the controversial scrapping of the $40 million Alinta Energy deal with Cummins raising concerns earlier this year about the ethical issues of the arrangement.

“I hope that when we think of who we want to align with, who we want to invite into being part of cricket, I hope climate is a real priority,” Cummins told media last year.

“I’ve got my own personal views so when it comes to personal sponsorships there are some companies I wouldn’t want to align with. When we’re getting money, whether it’s programs for junior cricket, grassroots, things for fans around Australia, I feel a real responsibility that with that, we’re doing on balance what is the right thing.”

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Cummins’ teammate and Australian Cricketers Association board director Usman Khawaja said at the time that players should be consulted about what sponsors appear on the team’s shirt.

“Not running things past individual players but as a holistic kind of view, yes,” Khawaja explained.

“We have a responsibility to the whole of cricket, whether that be drugs, alcohol, whatever it may be, we have a responsibility to the public of vetting sponsorships.

“I believe CA do already do that in some way, and there is an avenue where the ACA can be involved with them a little more strategically.

“I think the world is changing, not saying it’s changing in a specific direction, but inclusivity is a big part of it.

“And if inclusivity is a big part of it then you need to have these conversations, especially when it comes to team sports. I think that’s where it starts and stops.”