Kookaburra Sport
Kookaburra is an Australian sports equipment company, specialising in cricket and field hockey equipment, named after the Australian kingfisher. The company notably manufactures the most widely used brand of ball used in One-day internationals and Test cricket.[1]
Industry | Textile, Sporting goods |
---|---|
Founded | 1890 |
Founder | Alfred Grace Thompson |
Headquarters | Moorabbin, Melbourne, Australia |
Area served | |
Products | List
|
Website | kookaburra.biz |
History
The company was founded in 1890 as A.G. Thompson Pty Ltd by Alfred Grace Thompson, a migrant harness and saddle maker who turned to manufacturing cricket balls when his livelihood was threatened by the advent of the motor car. In the mid-1980s, the company diversified into manufacturing the full range of cricket bats, clothing, footwear and protective equipment.
In addition to its Australian operations, Kookaburra has offices in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, Bangladesh and India. Kookaburra's Turf Cricket Ball has been used exclusively in Australia, New Zealand and South African Test Cricket since 1946.
The company sponsors a junior cricket tournament called the Kookaburra Cup. It also has endorsement deals with many players including former Australia Captain Ricky Ponting and Martin Guptill of New Zealand.
Current ranges of equipment are Kahuna, Fever, Ghost, Rapid, Rampage Shadow, and Patriot, an exclusive range sold at the Greg Chappell Cricket Centre. Previous ranges include Diablo, Genesis, Blade,Sword, Ice, Beast, CCX, XLR8, Blaze and Surge.
Kookaburra also manufacture hockey sticks and equipment which are used by many top international players such Liam De Young, Charlotte Craddock, Madonna Blyth and Marsha Marescia. Flagship stick models include the Phoenix L-Bow and the Dragon M-Bow stick.
The Kookaburra Dimple Elite hockey ball has been used in all Olympic Games since 1984.
Cricket endorsements
The following cricket players have endorsement deals with Kookaburra:[2][3]
Australia
- Brad Haddin – Kahuna
- Michael Hussey – Onyx
- Peter Siddle – Kahuna
- Mitchell Starc – Rapid
- Nathan Lyon – Ghost
- Glenn Maxwell – Rapid
- Chris Rogers – Onyx
- Ashton Agar – Ghost
- Adam Zampa – Ghost
- Josh Hazlewood – Ghost
- Nicole Bolton – Onyx
- Alyssa Healy – Kahuna
- Peter Handscomb – Surge
- James Pattinson - Dynasty
- Alex Carey – Kahuna
- Tim Paine — Kahuna
- Dan Christian – Ghost
- Harry Nielsen – Kahuna
- Marnus Labuschagne - Ghost
England
- Jos Buttler – Kahuna
- Liam Dawson – Kahuna
- Lydia Greenway - Ghost
- Natalie Sciver - Kahuna
India
- Faiz Fazal - Kahuna
- Shikhar Dhawan - Kahuna
New Zealand
- Sophie Devine - Ghost
- Lockie Ferguson - Ghost
- Martin Guptill - Pursuit/Shadow
- Matt Henry - Surge
- Tom Latham - Kahuna
- James Neesham - Rapid
- Amy Satterthwaite - Kahuna
- Tim Seifert - Surge
- Katie Perkins - Surge
- BJ Watling
South Africa
- Dean Elgar – Kahuna
- Chris Morris – Shadow
- Lungi Ngidi – Kahuna
- Mangaliso Mosehle – Kahuna
- Sibonelo Makhanya - Surge
- Andrew Birch – Kahuna
- Anrich Nortje – Ghost
- Janneman Malan - Fever Blast
Bangladesh
- Anamul Haque – Kahuna
Hockey endorsements
The following hockey players have endorsement deals with Kookaburra:[4]
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
England
References
- https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/three-of-a-kind-different-balls-used-in-test-cricket-5625340/
- Team Kookaburra, Kookaburra Sport Website
- Sanju Samson joins Team Kookaburra, Kookaburra Sport News, 08 April 2019
- Team Kookaburra, Kookaburra Sport Website
- The white ball wonder, Cricinfo, 20 January 2006.
- Watts, Robert: MCC's silly point, The Daily Telegraph, 4 March 2006.