Cricket Australia, Origin Energy and Pat Cummins insist it is coincidental that the national governing body’s new energy sponsor has a subsidiary, Origin Zero, that has been working with Cummins’ Cricket For Climate venture for 18 months.

But all parties agree that this happy accident has obvious benefits.

Through the Cricket for Climate Venture, Pat Cummins was already working with Origin Energy. Now it’s a significant sponsor of Cricket Australia.Credit: Getty Images

By engaging with Australia’s biggest energy retailer after it had already started working with Cummins and CFC, cricket’s governing body has sidestepped the culture wars that broke out over a previous partnership with Alinta.

Cummins told this masthead in 2022 that he shared his frank views on personal sponsors, and wanting climate to be a consideration in future sponsorships, with CA’s then chief executive Nick Hockley. This was widely interpreted to mean he had pressured CA to end the Alinta deal, which........

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