Zimbabwe's Ryan Burl appeals for sponsorship on social media; PUMA lends support

Harare: Frustrated with financial constraints, Zimbabwe batsman Ryan Burl requested for sponsorships for the national team by posting a photo of his worn-out shoes to highlight the plight of his country’s cricket and was obliged by footwear giant PUMA. Burl’s plea worked as sportswear giant Puma promised him sponsorship. “Any chance we can get a sponsor so we don’t have to glue our shoes back after every series,” Burl asked in a tweet at a time when some of the cricket boards are earning millions from sponsorships alone. Responding to Burl’s tweet, Puma Cricket wrote on the social media platform, “Time to put the glue away, I got you covered.” The 27-year-old Burl, a left-handed middle-order batsman who has played three Tests, 18 ODIs and 25 T20Is, tweeted a picture of his shoe, a glue stick and some tools to fix it. Zimbabwe, which was granted ODI status before the 1983 World Cup and Test status in 1992, has been struggling in international cricket for a long time.

Time to put the glue away, I got you covered @ryanburl3 💁🏽 https://t.co/FUd7U0w3U7

— PUMA Cricket (@pumacricket) May 23, 2021

The country has failed to produce cricketers such as the Flower brothers – Andy and Grant, Alistair Campbell, Dave Houghton, Heath Streak and Neil Johnson, who once represented the African nation with some success. The ICC had suspended the country’s cricket board in 2019 due to government interference and disallowed them from competing in the T20 World Cup Qualifiers later that year. However, Zimbabwe was reinstated later. Recently, the touring Pakistan team completed a clean sweep of the two-match Test series and won the T20I series 2-1 in Zimbabwe.