Cricket Australia left with no sponsors beyond June as Alinta Energy pulls out after rift with Pat Cummins

Major Cricket Australia sponsor Alinta, which is one of the largest energy companies in the country, has decided to prematurely end its sponsorship deal in June. This came after Pat Cummins raised concerns last year against letting environmentally destructive companies be a part of the cricket fraternity. He said it was time to think about whom to invite to the realm of cricket and that climate should be taken into consideration before making any such decisions.

Known to favour environmental causes, Cummins last year came out to give his opinion on the association of Cricket Australia with Alinta's parent company, Pioneer Sail Holdings, which happens to be a major carbon emitter.

As reported by news.com.au, Cummins had last year revealed his apprehensions to Nine Newspapers.

"I hope that when we think of who we want to align with, who we want to invite into being part of cricket, I hope climate is a real priority," said the 29-year-old.

Notably, Australia are scheduled to play England in the coveted Ashes which will commence on June 16 in the UK. Therefore, with just over two months in hand, Cricket Australia would be raring to find a sponsor to clear off its financial woes.

However, it is being speculated that this financial debacle is going to cause a significant decline in Cricket Australia's price and the board might have to strike a compromising deal as sponsorship value for Cricket Australia is likely to fall after Alinta's pull out, as reported by journalist Nick Tabakoff. He further said that at least one betting company that was among the earlier considerations for sponsorship, has been struck off the list following players' reservations to endorse such activities.

Cummins refused to believe that his comments made Cricket Australia lose $40 million sponsorship deal

Earlier, Pat Cummins had quashed reports of his comments on Alinta leading to a $40 million loss for Cricket Australia from the sponsors. Cummins, who is a member of the Cricket for Climate group, had said that he had no regrets for favouring climate.

Notably, Cummins had refused to feature in any of Alinta's recent commercials and had also strongly voiced against allowing companies with poor climate record into cricket. 

Following that, Alinta had expressed intentions of ending the deal with Cricket Australia in 2023 "due to a change in its brand strategy".

As Cummins was being considered a reason for this sponsorship debacle, he stood to reject all such claims. 

Speaking to News Corp, he said "it was complete rubbish".

"The nature of the position I am in you do get dragged into different things. It was one of those moments you have to live with people you don't know having opinions about you," he further added.