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.
Industry | Textile, Sporting goods |
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Founded | 1890 |
Founder | Alfred Grace Thompson |
Headquarters | Moorabbin, Melbourne, Australia |
Area served | |
Products | List
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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:[1][2]
Australia
Brad Haddin – Kahuna Michael Hussey – Onyx Peter Siddle – Kahuna Nathan Coulter-Nile – Onyx Mitchell Starc – Rapid Nathan Lyon – Ghost Glenn Maxwell – Rapid Chris Rogers – Onyx Ashton Agar – 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
Sanju Samson - Kahuna 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
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 Bijoy
Hockey endorsements
The following hockey players have endorsement deals with Kookaburra:[3]
Australia
Teneal Attard Madonna Blyth Tristan White Liam De Young
New Zealand
South Africa
England
References
- 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.