Glamorgan rename ground

England play South Africa in an ODI at The SWALEC Stadium in September © Andrew Hignell/Glamorgan Cricket Archives

Glamorgan have announced a 10-year partnership with SWALEC that will see its new Test venue become The SWALEC Stadium.

The sponsorship deal - believed to be the biggest single sponsorship by a county cricket club and the biggest naming rights agreement ever entered into in Wales - is worth in excess of £1.5million over 10 years.

As well as the naming rights for the stadium, it will provide significant support for a range of community initiatives - totalling over £300,000 during the lifetime of the partnership. This includes the sponsorship of Cardiff's new weather station which will be based at the stadium.

Financed by a unique public-private partnership, it will be completed on time and within budget for the 2008 season. As well as providing some of the best facilities in world cricket, the SWALEC stadium will also offer top class business and conference facilities in the heart of Wales's capital city.

The stadium was a key element in Glamorgan's successful bid to host an Ashes Test in 2009. Glamorgan’s first major game at the venue will be on May 9 against Gloucestershire. The first international match there will be the one-day international between England and South Africa on September 3.

The SWALEC Stadium will be ready for the domestic season © Andrew Hignell/Glamorgan Cricket Archives

Glamorgan chairman Paul Russell said: "We are absolutely delighted with the decision of SWALEC to become associated with the world's newest Test stadium. A number of companies expressed an interest in the naming rights for the new stadium. However, I promised when the project started that the stadium was more than just another cricket ground."

"The new SWALEC Stadium is an iconic statement of the new ‘can do’ attitude of the new Wales. With our partners in the Welsh Assembly government and the city council, we saw this new national stadium as an opportunity to show the world what can be achieved by team Wales. The SWALEC Stadium is already a tribute to the skill and energy of the Welsh construction industry."

"As a club, we wanted the new stadium to represent the best that Wales can offer and in SWALEC we have found a sponsor who represents exactly that. SWALEC is associated with excellence in the energy sector in much the same way as the new SWALEC Stadium will be associated with the best that modern cricket can offer.

“I'm sure that when cricket fans throughout the world are asked to name a Test stadium in the UK, the SWALEC Stadium will soon rank alongside that of Lord's, the Brit Oval and Australia's top ground, the MCG."