The on-field umpires peeled a Vitality sticker from England captain Jos Buttler’s bat during the 2024 T20 World Cup clash against Australia due to an apparent breach of the ICC equipment regulations.
Buttler, back of whose bat sported a pink sticker with “Vitality” written at the bottom during the T20I series against Pakistan, walked out with the same willow in the 2024 T20 World Cup game against Australia on Saturday (June 8). This was the first time Buttler was batting at this edition of the T20 World Cup after England’s clash against Scotland was washed out earlier in the week.
The umpires, however, spotted the Vitality sticker and peeled it off before he was allowed to take strike. According to ICC’s equipment regulations, a player is allowed several sponsored logos on both the front and the back of the bat. These include three allowed on the back of the bat, including a manufacturer’s logo, a set of the player’s initials in the middle and a player’s bat logo at the bottom. The last part posed a problem.
Every sponsor logo should meet the ICC’s guidelines and it can be carried on the player’s bat provided “that such Logo shall not be either of, or confusingly similar to, or likely to be perceived as suggesting a connection with:
a) an entity which conflicts (whether through being a competitor or otherwise) with the exclusivity of any sponsor, supplier, or commercial partner of the Member Board of the player concerned or of an ICC Event; or
b) a Manufacturer, other than the Manufacturer of the item of cricket equipment it is to be carried on.”
The Vitality Group, sponsors of the T20 Blast in England, is a wellness programme that also offers health insurance and life insurance to the UK market. They probably conflicted with one of the many sponsors of the ICC, which led to the umpires peeling off Buttler’s sticker during the Australia game.
Buttler has previously batted with the Vitality logo, notably during the ODI series against New Zealand last year.
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