The New Zealand Cricket (NZC) governing body has unveiled a kit supply tie-up with UK sportswear brand Castore.

Starting in 2024, Castore will become the technical kit supplier for the New Zealand national cricket teams and NZC staff, and will also provide merchandise for fans.

This deal represents a timely resurgence in terms of its cricket portfolio for Castore, which saw a contract with Cricket South Africa come to an end in September. Castore also has a lengthy tie-up in place with the England and Wales Cricket Board, which started in 2021.

The sportswear brand has said that New Zealand cricket fans can expect “fully bespoke playing kits across all formats of the game as Castore looks to offer something for every supporter.”

This marks Castore’s first step into the New Zealand market.

Tom Beahon, co-founder of Castore, has commented: “This latest union further cements Castore’s presence and commitment to the sporting landscape globally as we continue to partner with teams at the elite level of the game.”

Castore unveiled at the end of last month that it had secured a £145 million ($183.1 million) investment in a funding round led by the Raine Group, the US financial advisory firm.

That company is investing through its recently launched growth equity fund, Raine Partners.

Private equity firms Hanaco Ventures and Felix Capital also participated in the investment through their respective growth funds.

Chris Smith, general manager for commercial at NZC, added: "There is significant alignment between the values and objectives of NZC, and Castore.
 
“A partnership with Castore presents opportunities for NZC to better serve the high-performance needs of our players, to build on the NZC, Blackcaps [men’s national team] and White Ferns [women’s national team] brands, and to meet the changing preferences of fans.”

In early November, NZC announced that Diana Puketapu-Lyndon would become its first female chair.