Kookaburra is an Australian sports equipment company, specialising in

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

, and

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

equipment, named after the Australian kingfisher. The company notably manufactures the most widely used brand of

ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...

used in One-day internationals and

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

History

The company was founded in 1890 as A.G. Thompson Pty Ltd by Alfred Grace Thompson, a migrant harness and

saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...

maker who turned to manufacturing cricket balls when his livelihood was threatened by the

advent of the motor car Development of the automobile started in 1672 with the invention of the first steam-powered vehicle, which led to the creation of the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation, built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769. Invento ...

. 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, Beast, and Patriot, an exclusive range sold at the Greg Chappell Cricket Centre. Previous ranges include Diablo, Ridgeback, Genesis, Blade, Sword, Ice, 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.

Products

References

The white ball wonder
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Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

'', 20 January 2006. *Watts, Robert
MCC's silly point
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The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 4 March 2006.

External links

* {{Sports equipment brands Australian brands Sportswear brands Manufacturing companies established in 1890 1890 establishments in Australia Cricket equipment manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Melbourne Sporting goods manufacturers of Australia

History

Products

See also

References

External links