The Warehouse, 47-49 Cowleaze Road, Kingston Upon Thames, KT2 6DZ
+44 (0)208 541 3434

Website version

Can the Ashes brand cope with ten test matches in just six months?

Performance Communications Author Image Performance Communications | July 9, 2013

2013 will provide the biggest ever year of Ashes cricket. Five test matches in England will be swiftly followed by an Ashes tour down under to save another draining Ashes/World Cup tour of epic proportions. That is ten test matches in six months between 10th July and 2nd January.

Will this timeline ensure over exposure for the Ashes brand in the UK? Will sponsors get value for money and will Sky Sports presenters maintain their enthusiasm? Can the British public maintain interest when the norm is at least 15 months to build excitement between series, not just 82 days?

The answer to all these questions is squarely based on the form of the England and Wales cricket team. If back to back Ashes series had taken place during the England versus Australia of my youth, with the cards stacked against us with Warne*, Waugh, Healy and McGrath et al helping inflict one crushing Aussie win followed swiftly by another, then the Ashes brand would have been dealt a cruel blow, in the UK at least. Demoralising defeats do not inspire new sponsors, TV advertising money, Sky Sports subscriptions or increased participation in any sport.

However since 2005 we’ve won three out of four series and all is good in the world. The Aussies are short of form and sacked their coach 16 days before the first test while England are clear favourites again, Kevin Pietersen is back to fitness, a little gem of a player has been found in Joe Root and confidence is running high.

Should everything go to plan on the field in the next few months, and surely it will (let’s just not think about the chance that the results will go against us), then the Aussies will be soundly beaten and the Ashes regained on home soil. There is nothing better than a winning England test team and it will ensure the Ashes brand will flourish – Sky Sports subscriptions will get a boost, Botham and the boys will have the bragging rights Down Under, the sporting public will be buoyed and no doubt provide value for money for sponsors by taking the keys to brand new Jaguars, supping copious amounts of Pedigree bitter, reading The Times and switching their weekly shop to Waitrose!

Rather than can the Ashes brand survive ten tests in six months, the real question has to be can the British public survive the 19 month wait between January 2014 to July 2015.

Come on England!

James Sephton

*My Ashes claim to fame was that I was in Australia for the 1994/95 series and was unfortunate enough to witness Shane Warne’s one and only test match hat-trick at the MCG boxing day test
Image courtesy of Getty Images


Related stories.

Performance Communications Transitions To Employee Ownership

Performance Communications, a leading provider of specialist communications services to the Automotive, Sport and Technology industries is delighted to announce that it has transitioned to employee ownership via an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). The move secures the agency’s long-term independence and will provide its employees with both a greater level of involvement and a share […]

Cricket at the Olympics, it’s just not cricket!

Let’s set the record straight, I don’t like cricket, I love it* but cricket at the 2028 Olympics, is that really necessary? The IOC has announced the five new sports that will be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Funnily enough some of the new sports that will appeal to a Northern American […]

Top 5 Sports Documentaries – The Power of Sports Documentaries

It seems that recently a new pro sports documentary appears on an almost daily basis, 24-7 viewing if you need to get away from the family over Christmas! While the docs undoubtedly provide the streaming channels with engaging content to draw subscriptions and drive revenue, should sporting associations or teams always give the green light […]

Unveiling Threads: Exploring the Disruptive Factors and Success Behind the New Social Media App

In a rapidly evolving social media landscape, new platforms emerge, seeking to disrupt the status quo and capture users’ attention. Can Threads go the distance though?

What are the pros and cons of an EV Motorcycle (According to ChatGPT)

What happens when you ask AI tool ChatGPT to create a blog article for you? Well, judge for yourself…   Electric-powered motorcycles are becoming an increasingly popular option for riders who are looking for an environmentally friendly and low-maintenance mode of transportation. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the pros and […]

Our favourite World Cup PR campaigns

The biggest stage in football is just days away as all attention turns to Qatar for what is set to be a competition like no other. With over 3.5 billion people watching the 2018 edition in Russia, including 1.12 billion for the final match alone, the World Cup provides brands with an unrivalled platform for […]

Its time to place human stories at the heart of the advanced air mobility market

If you ask me to imagine the future, the first thing my mind often flicks to is the opening scene of Futurama – with flying cars and robotaxis gliding over giant skyscrapers. This always felt like an incredibly distant vision but autonomous flying machines are here today and they are already doing a lot of […]

The UEFA Women’s Euros 2022

Now the crescendo of excitement of England’s Euros triumph has subsided, Nicola McKelvey takes a deeper look at the huge growth of the women’s Euros and the England team in an article that quantifies and compares the positive momentum of the UEFA Women’s Euros 2022 to previous events. Introduction It’s widely believed that major tournaments […]

Be Bold.

It’s time to come off the fence:


Message us