Zimbabwe cricketer Ryan Burl may not have expected to sign a sponsorship deal with Puma Cricket within hours of going viral with his appeal for help. For the cricketer, it’s like a dream come true, and it seems that fantasies do come true! Earlier on Sunday, he pled with his supporters to find him a sponsor by showing them how he needs to patch his shoes due to the Zimbabwe board’s financial difficulties. Several news sources and social media users picked up on his appeal within minutes.
Frustrated by financial restrictions, Zimbabwe batsman Ryan Burl sought support for the national team by sharing a picture of his worn-out shoes on social media to highlight the plight of his country’s cricket, which was granted by PUMA.
Burl asked in a tweet, “Any chance we can get a sponsor so we don’t have to glue our shoes back after every series?” at a time when certain cricket boards are raising millions solely from sponsorships.
The tweet became viral and the fans started to urge a sponsor. A few hours later on Sunday, an appeal was heard from Burl and his supporters as well as the popular “Puma” brand of sportswear came in support of the cricket-maker and declared they had him covered. Burl’s appeal was retweeted in his official ‘Puma Cricket’ account, which said, ‘Time to put the glue away, I got you covered.
Burl, a centre order left-handing batman, who has tweeted his shoe, a glue stick and other supplies to patch it, playing 3 trials, 18 ODIs, and 25 T20Is.
Zimbabwe has been grappling for a long time with international cricket since it was awarded ODI status before 1983 World Cup and Test status in 1992.
Andy and Grant, Alistair Campbell, Dave Houghton, Heath Streak and Neil Johnson – who were once successful in representing the African country – have not succeeded in producing Cricketers like the brothers Flower.
Owing to government interferences, the ICC had dissolved the cricket board in 2019 and disqualified to join the T20 World Cup Qualifiers at the end of the year.
