Forgotten brands alive in cricket
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
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While England trot out at Headingley togged out in bright Mr Whippy white by Adidas, South Africa are in more traditional vanilla by Hummel, which is the subject of Rob Bagchi's article in the Guardian.
The latter, particularly, seems a strange marriage - the chevron merchants first gaining prominence with Alan Ball's white boots in the early 1970s and Denmark's "we are red, we are white, we are Danish dynamite" Euro 84 strip worn by Preben Elkjaer and Soren Lerby.
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They are not the first half-forgotten brand to latch on to cricket in a bid for renewed prominence. Admiral, manufacturers of iconic kits for England and Leeds United in the 1970s thanks to their close ties to Don Revie as well as that infamous "chocolate" Coventry City away strip, recently finished an eight-year contract with England that put them back on the radar after two relatively moribund decades.
If cricket works wonders for retro brand chic, this trend will surely continue. Give it five years and Bangladesh will be decked out by Patrick, Sri Lanka by Bukta and New Zealand by Stylo Matchmaker. Old labels never die, they just change sports.
Mathew Varghese is sub-editor (stats) at Cricinfo