Netherlands secure important sponsor

Netherlands cricket has secured an important new sponsor after signing an agreement with United Dutch Breweries. Under the terms of the deal, the company will sponsor the national side's participation in the English domestic Clydesdale Bank 40 League and the A team's involvement in the European Championships for an initial two-year period. The logo of UDB brand 3 Horses Malt Beverage - a non-alcoholic beer - will feature on the playing and training kit of the sides in these competitions.

"We are delighted to welcome 3 Horses Malt Beverage as our principal sponsor for the ECB and ICC Europe competitions," said Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond chief executive Richard Cox. "We will now seek further complementary brand partners and sponsors to accompany 3 Horses for our other teams and development programmes, as we systematically raise the profile of cricket in the Netherlands and elsewhere.

"It's particularly pleasing that our new sponsor is a purely Dutch company, and we are looking forward to working closely with them over the next two years," he added.

"In many of the 95 countries worldwide in which we do business, we see how popular cricket is," explained UDB managing director Stijn Deelen. "3 Horses Malt Beverage is already a well-known name in many Middle Eastern and Asian markets, and we hope to link the brand to the popularity of the sport. Our association with the Dutch cricket team underlines the association of our products with its Dutch heritage."

The national side's first engagement in the Clydesdale Bank 40 is on May 15 against Yorkshire at Headingley. They will also have two home fixtures in the competition, against Essex and Middlesex on May 21 and 23 respectively, to be played at the VRA Ground in Amstelveen.