The biggest sponsorship deal in English club cricket history has been announced as Brit Insurance, the UK general insurer, signed a new five-year deal to sponsor Surrey County Cricket Club and the Brit Insurance Oval.

The sponsorship deal, which will run from the start of the 2006 domestic season through to the end of 2010, eclipses the previous deal between the two parties (signed in January 2004) as the biggest of its kind in English county cricket.

The agreement will see Brit Insurance brand all Surrey CCC white and coloured shirts and retain the naming rights to the famous London cricket arena until the end of the 2010 domestic season. Also included in the new contract will be performance based incentives rewarding the Club for securing promotion back into the first division of the County Championship.