Photo Credit: Sportsfile
Cricket Ireland has today announced that HBV Studios Ltd. will be the title sponsor of Ireland Women’s multi-format series with South Africa Women starting on Friday, with the series officially to be known as ‘The HBV Studios International Women’s Cricket Series’.
HBV Studios is an Irish company that provides a range of audio and video production services such as live streaming, localisation, virtual events, digital media, audio and video studio hire, video editing, podcasting and video production. The company was set up in 2012 and began livestreaming sports events in 2016 and has seen massive growth in the area since.
Cricket Ireland engaged HBV Studios to livestream its domestic cricket programme in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when attendance at sporting events worldwide was restricted. This partnership subsequently developed into a three-year deal to livestream cricket matches from international to club cricket, including this upcoming series against South Africa.
Heatley Tector, the proprietor of HBV Studios Ltd., said:
“It’s an immense privilege for us to be in a position to sponsor the upcoming Women’s series with South Africa. Women’s cricket has been growing exponentially across the world in recent years, and along with Cricket Ireland’s significant investment of €1.5M into the women’s game, it’s set to grow even further.
“I’ve been involved with Irish club cricket now for well over 40 years and I’m quite fortunate to be able to combine my personal sporting passion with my business, through our live streaming of more than 50 of Cricket Ireland’s international and domestic fixtures last year alone. Along with our sponsorship of the South African series we will also be live streaming the matches to a worldwide audience.
“Live streaming is a fantastic way to show the Irish cricketing public and fans of cricket worldwide just how exceptionally talented our cricketers are. We achieved more than 6 million views of our livestreams in 2021 and have had a strong start to 2022. The interest in Irish cricket continues to grow and we hope to continue to be part of that journey.
“We’re really looking forward to the South Africa series and we’d especially like to wish Gaby and the squad the very best of luck.”
Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland said:
“We are delighted to welcome HBV Studios on board as title sponsors of the Ireland v South African women’s series, ahead of what will be an extensive programme of matches for our women’s team this summer.
“HBV have been partners of Cricket Ireland for a number of years now, and this announcement today demonstrates not only how well the two organisations work together, but also that we are of common mind when it comes to our desire to grow the reach and profile of the women’s game.
“We’ve seen such incredible growth and professionalisation of the women’s game across several major nations like Australia, England and India and the strong focus on female cricket in the new ICC strategy. We in Ireland share those same ambitions for female cricket, ambitions laid out in both our Strategic Plan and our Women’s and Girls Cricket Action Plan. It is partnerships such as this with our friends in HBV that help raise the profile of the women’s game in Ireland, grow the sport in general, and put us firmly on the path of becoming a major nation in world cricket.”
The series gets underway this Friday with the first of three T20 Internationals between the sides at Pembroke Cricket Club at 4.30pm local time.
FIXTURES
The series dates are:
• 3 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 1st T20I (Pembroke, 4.30pm start)
• 6 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 2nd T20I (Pembroke, 4.30pm start)
• 8 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 3rd T20I (Pembroke, 4.30pm start)
• 11 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 1st ODI (Clontarf, 10.45am start)
• 14 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 2nd ODI (Clontarf, 10.45am start)
• 17 June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa Women – 3rd ODI (Clontarf, 10.45am start)
The three ODIs will be Ireland Women’s first fixtures as part of the ICC Women’s Championship.
All matches will be livestreamed and available at www.livestream.com/CricketIrelandLive.
Tickets to the matches are €5 adults, under-16s go free, with online ticket sales at: www.cricketireland.ie/tickets.
Name of Author: Cricket Ireland
Cricket Ireland, officially known as The Irish Cricket Union Company Limited by Guarantee, is the governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland. It oversees the national men’s and women’s teams and organizes the Inter-Provincial Series, Super 3s, and All-Ireland club competitions. Ireland achieved Test status for women in 2000 and for men in 2017 when it became a Full Member of the ICC.
