An independent sports shop in Durham was left overjoyed after a South African cricket legend paid it a visit this week.
Faf Du Plessis, one of the greatest fielders of all, time made a special trip to Newlands Sports in Langley Moor on Tuesday, August 16, where he took the time to meet cricket fans and customers. The former captain of the South African national cricket team was invited by owners Peter and Amanda Kettle to celebrate the launch of the South African cricket brand 'IXU' in their store.
Du Plessis, who was in the North East playing in The Hundred for the Northern Superchargers, is the brand ambassador so it seemed fitting he popped in to support the local business during his trip to the region.
Husband and wife team Amanda and Peter, who opened Newland Sports in 2020, were delighted to welcome the star into the store. The pair said his visit marked just how far their business had come after taking a leap of faith to launch it during the height of the pandemic.
Peter, an ECB Level 2 cricket coach, had the idea to open Newlands Sports after realising there was a lack of specialist sports shops within Durham. The store caters to sports including hockey, rugby, football, fitness and nutrition and aims to support the local sporting community.
“I am extremely excited to be launching IXU into the UK market and was especially excited to have Faf du Plessis a South African cricket legend and IXU brand ambassador in our shop to help with the launch," Peter said.
"For a business that we only started just over two years ago at the start of a global pandemic, I can’t believe we are where we are now.”
Amanda said the shop has established strong relationships with high-profile sports brands and is now aiming to reach more customers across the North East.
“Over two years of hard work we’ve managed to build relationships with some great sports brands," Amanda said.
"It’s an honour to be the UK distributer of IXU cricket equipment and we’re excited to be working with IXU and to have had Faf visit the store.”
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