Cheltenham & Gloucester, the financial services company, today announced a three year sponsorship agreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that will see the company become title sponsors of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, the premier One-Day knockout tournament in England and Wales.

The sponsorship will begin immediately and run until summer 2003, with Cheltenham & Gloucester in place as title sponsor for Round One of the competition, starting on Tuesday 1 May. The final will take place at Lord's on Saturday 1 September and the winners will be presented with the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy.

Announcing the sponsorship deal, ECB Chief Executive Tim Lamb said: "We are pleased to have secured Cheltenham & Gloucester as the new sponsor of the Trophy and look forward to developing an excellent relationship with them in our efforts to broaden the appeal of the First Class County game to a new generation of cricket-watchers.

"It's a great time for cricket; we welcome new sponsors for the Trophy and npower Test Series this summer and tomorrow we launch the ECB National Strategy for Cricket, which provides a structured and strategic approach to the future development of the game from playground to Test arena. England winning four consecutive Test Series has raised the profile of the whole game."

Cheltenham & Gloucester's managing director, Roger Burden said, "C&G is delighted to be the new sponsor of one of British cricket's most prestigious trophies. We have a long-standing association with the game, sponsoring the popular Cheltenham Cricket Festival as well as many 'grass-roots' clubs and events. This new association is a reinforcement of our commitment to the cricket at all levels."

England and Gloucestershire's Mark Alleyne said: "All the Gloucestershire players are relishing the prospect of defending our title in the Trophy. We've won the Trophy two years running and the competition is exciting for the players and fans. Every team will want to play in the final at Lord's in September - we've got used to doing very well in this competition and we're determined to be there again this year. The Trophy often provides incentive for the underdogs to cause upsets and I have no doubt it will be a closely-fought competition again this year."

The contract was negotiated by ECB's Commercial Department in conjunction with its agency, Sportsworld Media Group.

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