St John’s, ANTIGUA – BLK have signed a three-year deal with the iconic WINDIES cricket team to become the official WINDIES Kit Supplier. The partnership covers the WINDIES senior men’s, women’s and youth sides (Under 19s) along with grassroots development cricket in the Caribbean.
“BLK has a track record of providing quality cricketing apparel in Australia and this is an opportunity for us to provide that excellence in partnership with an iconic brand on the world stage as well as kicking off our commitment to the North American and Caribbean markets,” BLK Chairman Richard Upshall said.
The WINDIES Men will wear BLK for the first time when they begin their tour of England with a Test Match at Edgbaston on August 17. The WINDIES Women will also play in BLK at the 2018 ICC World Twenty20 (venues to be confirmed) and the 2019 Cricket World Cup which is scheduled to take place in England and Wales.
Johnny Grave, the CEO of Cricket West Indies (CWI), said: “We are delighted to welcome BLK as the Official Kit Supplier of all WINDIES teams. In addition to providing all of our team wear, this new partnership forms part of our broader strategy to grow our retail and licensing revenues by creating a new online WINDIES store. We will be expanding our commercial partnership programme over the next few years and are looking forward to building the relationship with BLK.”
The WINDIES now join the England Rugby League, Scotland Rugby League, England Netball, Hartlepool United and the rugby union Champions Cup winners, Saracens, to be the latest professional team outfitted by BLK.
BLK is based in the United Kingdom from which it operates under licenses which cover much of the Northern Hemisphere from the Middle East and Europe to the USA and the Caribbean. The company has ambitious plans to work with high-profile teams across all sports (including e-sports) as nearly 10,000 teams globally now wear BLK – including across sports such as lacrosse, baseball, American football, netball, hockey, ice hockey, football, rugby and squash.
Mr Upshall continued: “BLK are proud to be the Official WINDIES Kit Supplier and this partnership really complements our ambitious strategy. As WINDIES is one of the most recognisable brands in the world this establishes a new benchmark for the company and an opportunity for us to showcase the quality and breadth of our product offering to the widest possible audience.”
The new WINDIES Test, T20 and ODI kit is in keeping with the distinctive maroon and gold and will be available alongside the WINDIES training range for sale from various distributors and BLK’s own website from the 17th of August.