da stake casino： New South Wales’s Michael Clarke has been confirmed as the man at the centre of the biggest sporting-brand sponsorship deal in Australian cricket history
Wisden Cricinfo staff10-Apr-2004
Michael Clarke: the new face of Dunlop-Slazenger in a three-year deal reported to be worth $1.25 million© Getty Images
New South Wales’s Michael Clarke has been confirmed as the man at the centre of the biggest sporting-brand sponsorship deal in Australian cricket history.The deal, which totally dwarfs the previous record – Steve Waugh’s sponsorship with the Indian bat-manufacturer MRF in 2001 – is even more remarkable given that Clarke has yet to play a Test.He will become the face of Dunlop-Slazenger in a three-year deal reported to be worth Aus$1.25 million. “There is a lot of pressure on me,” Clarke told The Sun Herald. “But I try not to see it that way because this is what I want to do.”I hope people are expecting a lot of me. I want it to happen and that’s why all the money . . . doesn’t faze me because, money or not, I will do whatever I need to do to play for Australia.”Clarke left for England on Friday to join up with Hampshire, where he has been set up with an apartment, a car and a lucrative financial package.