Royal London To Partner With Cricket Ireland For England Clash In Malahide

Royal London has been unveiled by Cricket Ireland today as the headline sponsor for their marquee clash against England at Malahide on Friday May 8th. The match will be titled the 'Royal London One-Day International' and sees Royal London broaden its association with cricket outside of the UK for the first time.

Royal London is the largest mutual Life, Pensions and Investment company in the UK and Ireland. It is currently in the second year of a comprehensive four-year sponsorship deal with The England and Wales Cricket Board, covering one-day cricket at international, county and grassroots levels. Royal London has been operating in Ireland for a number of years as Caledonian Life - it rebranded that business last year taking on the name of its parent brand.

Jon Glen, Managing Director of Royal London in Ireland welcomed the sponsorship deal saying, "Our business has been operating in Ireland for over 180 years so it's great that our first major sponsorship here is for a sporting event that's nearly as old. I understand the first match took place in 1855. Given Ireland's recent form I think it should be a great game - whatever the final outcome, I'm sure the Royal London One-Day International in Malahide will prove to be a fantastic day and I'm delighted that we've been able to extend our association with cricket into Ireland."

Dennis Cousins, Head of Commercial at Cricket Ireland, welcomed the sponsorship deal, which will see the teams vying for the Royal London One-Day International trophy: "We're delighted to welcome Royal London as our naming rights partner for this marquee fixture in our international home at Malahide.

"Following on from the hugely successful day against England in 2013, we hope to build on this experience with Royal London who we know will bring an added dimension to what clearly is a great day out for sports fans.

"Royal London's support of Irish Cricket is also a positive reinforcement of the growing popularity of the sport in Ireland and the increased interest which saw 10,000 people attend the last time the two teams played in Ireland."

The clash at Malahide has captured the imagination of the Irish sporting public following their heroic efforts at the recent World Cup, which saw Ireland narrowly miss out on qualification for the quarter-finals on net run rate.

Ireland all-rounder John Mooney is relishing the clash with England, and is looking to go one better than the sides' meeting in 2013: "After just missing out on the quarters at the World Cup, the boys are really looking forward to getting back on the field. Losing to England in 2013 after being in such a strong position was disappointing, but we're heading into this one full of confidence."

Mooney was the man who hit the winning runs against England at Bangalore at the 2011 World Cup, and for him matches don't get any bigger than this: "Playing against England for everyone on the squad is huge; this is where you want to be as a player playing at home in front of huge crowds. The Irish fans at the World Cup were amazing and we'll be hoping another sell-out crowd at Malahide can help us get the win."

Tickets for the must-see event continue to sell strongly and the game is poised to be another sell-out, similar to England's last visit to Dublin in September 2013.

Cricket Ireland are urging supporters to purchase their tickets for the Royal London One-Day International immediately to ensure they get a chance to pay tribute to the 'Boys in Green' in their first fixture since the World Cup.