Luke Jongwe caught in Cricket World Cup sponsorship scandal

A Zimbabwean cricket star has been dumped by a series of Australian cricket gear companies. Read why he might have a hard time finding a new sponsor.

A range of Australian cricket equipment manufacturers have come forward with explosive allegations of their experience dealing with Zimbabwean cricket star Luke Jongwe.

The 27-year-old was signed in August by Sydney bat-making entrepreneur Josh Gavan to his brand, JPGavan, in preparation for Zimbabwe’s recent limited-overs tour of Australia.

Mr Gavan operates out of his parents’ garage in Tamarama, but boasts some of the biggest cricketers in the world on his roster, including Australian legend Ellyse Perry.

Mr Gavan alleges Jongwe got in contact with him directly on September 16 for the first time, two weeks after signing his deal, saying that equipment he had been sent had been stolen after a home break-in.

Mr Jongwe allegedly requested more equipment on September 23 and again on October 2.

A glowing review on social media of Mr Gavan’s bats from Zimbabwe then piqued the bat-maker’s curiosity, given he had never sold any bats to the southern African nation.

Josh Gavan is a batmaker in Sydney's eastern suburbs and despite operating out of his parent's garage, has some of the world's biggest players signed to his brand. Photo: JPGavan

Further investigations revealed that the bat enjoying rave reviews had been produced exclusively for Luke Jongwe, and had allegedly ended up with club cricketers in Harare.

A representative acting for Jongwe did not respond to our requests for comment.

“Player sponsorship can be a lottery when you don’t know the person,” Mr Gavan said in a statement.

“We are currently considering legal options as he acquired thousands of dollars of equipment from our small business.”

Within minutes of Mr Gavan retracting his sponsorship, Jongwe had already contacted Ace Cricket, a South Australian equipment manufacturer based in Port Lincoln.

After losing his deal with JPGavan, and still without a sponsor before Zimbabwe’s World Cup campaign, Jongwe struck a deal with Victorian equipment manufacturer Evolution Sports.

Zimbabwe's Luke Jongwe is bowled out during the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2022 cricket match. Photo: David Gray, AFP

The three-man company operates in the fringe Melbourne suburb of Clyde North.

“We were contacted by Luke (Jongwe) through Instagram on October 10 – he said he had seen Yannic Cariah (West Indian all-rounder) using our equipment in Melbourne and wanted to be a part of the brand,” director Aaron Straughair said.

Mr Straughair says Jongwe proposed a sponsorship deal with the brand until the conclusion of the T20 World Cup.

After arranging the carriage of three pairs of gloves and sponsored branding to arrive at the Zimbabwe team hotel in Hobart, Mr Straughair said Jongwe continually messaged him, once at 3.30am, to confirm he would receive his equipment.

With hotel reception confirming Jongwe had picked up the equipment in the afternoon before Zimbabwe’s opening round clash with Ireland, eyebrows were raised when he walked out onto Hobart’s Blundstone Arena later that night using a bat and gloves that appeared to be made by Indian batmaker BDM.

The next morning, Jongwe was asked about photos he had posed for at the official World Cup media day, donning the equipment of Melbourne start-up brand M9 Cricket.

“This post means you probably didn’t need them (the gloves) anyway with them supplying you with a full kit!” Mr Straughair said during a WhatsApp exchange with Jongwe.

“That guy had given a few gear … because he was on my case I had to cancel the deal yesterday so I will be using your gloves for the next game (sic),” Jongwe said.

In a statement, M9 Cricket director of operations Mohsin Abbas, said Jongwe had an agreement with his brand for a year, having been signed on October 11, but had informed him on the morning of October 19 that he would not be using M9 Cricket’s equipment in Zimbabwe’s next game later that evening.

M9 Cricket counts Perth Scorchers spinner Peter Hatzoglou among its sponsored players, as well as Zimbabwe all-rounder Tony Munyonga.

Zimbabwe Cricket and Luke Jongwe did not respond to requests for comment.