Birmingham Bears have unveiled a striking new shirt for the Vitality Blast for the next two seasons that is inspired by a local graffiti artist and is made from a sustainable material derived from coffee beans.
With nine weeks to go until the opening game of the 2022 Vitality Blast at Edgbaston, the new T20 shirt incorporates the traditional yellow and navy intertwined with a striking electric blue swash and inspired by a piece of graffiti at Edgbaston created by David ‘Panda’ Brown.
The artwork and shirt, made by PlayerLayer and featuring Lead Partner Talbots Law, forms part of the Unmuzzled campaign, which encourages players, staff and fans to be bold and brave both on and off-the-field.
As part of the Bears’ commitment to becoming the most sustainable cricket club in the UK, the playing shirts are eco-friendly, made from a mixture of coffee beans and recycled polyester material. The replica shirts are a made from the recycled polyester mix.
The shirt was unveiled today with Bears captain Carlos Brathwaite, spinner Jake Lintott, batter Sam Hain and all-rounder Dan Mousley, alongside students on the Edgbaston-based Cricket Education Programme with Sandwell College and Edgbaston Foundation volunteer Joel Hales-Waller.
Chris Airey, head of marketing and brand, said: “We hope that Bears fans have seen over the last few weeks that we’re taking a very different approach to our T20 cricket this season, on and off-the-field.
“Working with PlayerLayer, we took a fresh and innovative approach to the shirt design working with a renowned local artist David ‘Panda’ Brown and his interpretation of Unmuzzled, which is on display at Edgbaston.
“From the artwork, we feel we’ve created one of the most striking shirts in our 20-year T20 history. There is a bold new colour scheme, we’ve gone for a round-neck collar and, most importantly, it is made from a new sustainable material, which we are passionate about and believe is the first of its kind in cricket.
“We can’t wait to see captain Carlos, the team and fans kitted out in it this summer.”
The new T20 shirt is now available to pre-order from Store ‘94 priced at £50 for adults and £40 for juniors.