Cricket: Pirates sailing into uncharted waters

Bay of Plenty Cricket Pirates CEO Paul Read

The Bay of Plenty Cricket Association has taken on a new brand in an attempt to reap more bounty.

The association is now formally known as the Bay of Plenty Cricket Pirates as part of a new commercial plan intended to increase revenue by creating a business sponsor network in the region.

The move, however, has angered some members of the cricket community.

A change of the cover photo of the cricket association's Facebook page to the blue and white Pirates logo bearing the words "Ahoy! Welcome to the Bay of Plenty Pirates", led current and former Bay players to express their concerns.

The post received eight likes but each of the 12 comments was negative in tone.

They included queries about the history of pirates in the area, whether any market research had been done during the formulation of the brand and what sort of sledging the team could expect while attempting to defend the Hawke Cup.

The following day, Bay of Plenty Cricket Pirates CEO Paul Read posted another message stating the men's team would not be included in the rebranding and continue with the traditional cornucopia, colours, caps and uniforms.

Read said the rebranding had yet to be officially launched and questioned how the Bay of Plenty Times had come to find out about it.

When informed it was by checking the association's website and Facebook page, Read said those changes were part of a soft launch intended to spread awareness of the move.

"It's not really out yet, we're working on a plan to have it out in the next month, by mid-October," Read said.

"We are using the Pirates for some of our rep cricket stuff and for our juniors to help promote cricket in the youth, but it's not running through the men's team at this stage - we're not rebranding the senior men's team to the Pirates or anything like that."

Drawing a line at using the moniker for the senior men's side was partly due to an appreciation of the feelings of some players and supporters, Read said.

"We are trying to reduce some of that negative side that may come through from some of the older and more traditional people by having it less influencing the senior side of the game."

He was aware of the negative reaction to the rebranding on Facebook, but said that was because they had not had the opportunity to publicise the change.

"We haven't had a chance to talk with some of the shareholder groups. We have a presentation on Sunday with the senior men's team so we are still working through the process."

The move is intended to create alternate revenue streams outside the traditional sources of gaming grants and New Zealand Cricket.

The scheme will give businesses the chance to sponsor the association for $10 to $50 a month in exchange for marketing opportunities and packages.