Australian Cricket Board renamed Cricket Australia

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) is to change its name and brand mark from mid-2003.

A new name, Cricket Australia, and a systematic brand structure will be introduced to give all levels of Australian cricket an opportunity for an integrated look and voice when communicating - improving the power and value of the game's branding.

The Cricket Australia logo

The new name and brand mark also better reflects modern Australian cricket than does the old name and logo.

ACB Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said recent strategic planning had highlighted that Australian cricket across all states and territories lacked a coordinated approach to branding, diluting the sport's cut-through when competing for attention against other sport and entertainment competitors.

"Consultation with stakeholders during the development of Australian cricket's most recent strategic plan, From Backyard to Baggy Green, revealed that the Australian Cricket Board needed to build the value of cricket's brands," Mr Sutherland said.

"Today's release of Cricket Australia as the new name with a new brand mark ends more than 12 months of planning, consultation, design and decision making to build the value of association with cricket."

The new name and logo is expected to be fully implemented in time for the Test and one-day international series against Bangladesh in Darwin and Cairns in July 2003.

The new logo will appear on elite Australian men's and women's uniforms and equipment, except the baggy green cap, which will not change. It will keep the traditional cricket coat of arms.

Cricket Australia's advertising, licensing, game development programs and promotional initiatives will use the new name in conjunction with a variation of the new brand mark - a number of sub-brands are also due for release in July 2003.

Mr Sutherland said the organisation's investment in a new brand mark and corporate identity will help combine Australian cricket holistically.

State cricket associations have the opportunity to align their brands, keeping their distinctive state looks but within an aligned approach designed to give all Australian cricket an integrated look and brand voice.

"The new systematic approach to Australian cricket's branding will bring together all levels of Australian cricket, from the grassroots to the baggy green cap," he said.

"In developing this brand we are determined to ensure that the game can be enhanced for future generations. A contemporary branding structure will help us achieve this."

The development of the new brand mark involved extensive consultation with some of cricket's key stakeholders, including players, former Australian captains, directors, state associations, commercial partners, sponsors, licensees, service providers and media.

Mr Sutherland said consultation with the players covered what approach should be taken to one of Australia's icons, the baggy green cap.

"With a move to a logo that incorporated parts of the traditional cricket coat of arms, such as the kangaroo and emu, the players and ACB discussed if the baggy green cap should be changed or protected," Mr Sutherland said.

"The consensus was that its history and iconic status should remain and that all other playing garments should carry the new logo, but the baggy green cap should keep the old logo."

The new brand aims to encapsulate the trademark cricket sound of bat meeting ball. The imagery also incorporates:

The ACB contracted branding specialists FutureBrand to help design and develop the new logo and to devise an integrated structure for all of cricket's brands.

FutureBrand, an Australian company, has worked in a similar capacity with the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, the Australian Football League and major corporate organisations Telstra and BHP Billiton. The company has also worked on the design for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.