Discuss   |      Email   |      Print   |   Get latest news on your desktop

Vodafone Group, the world's biggest mobile phone group by revenue, is to end its sponsorship of the English cricket team following a strategic review of its sponsorship portfolio.

Vodafone and the England [Images] and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement that the current four-year sponsorship agreement would conclude at the end of the winter tour of South Africa [Images] in January 2010.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that the deal was worth 4 million pounds a year.

The ECB said it fully respects Vodafone's decision and said it would be looking for a new partner after its 12-year association with the mobile phone group.

A Vodafone spokesman said the group would be looking for new sponsorship deals and said it simply wants to refresh its portfolio.