LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 29, 2026--
Skechers, The Comfort Technology Company®, today announced the arrival of its inaugural cricket footwear line in the UK. First launched in India, the Skechers Cricket Elite style offers athletes at all levels the opportunity to experience the collection’s signature comfort and performance when they take the field.
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Skechers developed and perfected the brand’s cricket offering with insight and feedback from elite athletes and the cricket community to ensure the final product best meets the specific needs of cricketers.
Richard Parker, Managing Director, Skechers UK & Ireland, said, “Cricket has a massive global following as the second most popular spectator sport in the world, but cricket originated from the UK and has more recreational players and fans participating here every year, making this the ideal country to expand the reach of our Skechers Cricket footwear collection. The launch of the footwear is just the beginning; we have a robust plan to engage directly with elite English players and the passionate local cricket community in the months ahead.”
David Weinberg, COO of Skechers, added, “While India was the launchpad for Skechers Cricket, we always planned to grow the footprint of this collection to the UK and additional cricket-loving countries. This allows us to introduce more players to our innovative high-performance cricket shoes tailored to the unique demands of the sport. Skechers Cricket footwear expands our performance portfolio that includes running, football, basketball, golf, pickleball/padel and more products offering elite to casual athletes our signature Comfort That Performs across their favourite sports and activities.”
The Skechers Cricket Elite style features 11 adjustable metal spikes. It is ideal for players seeking exceptional traction and stability, enabling them to perform with confidence and deliver powerful movements on the field. The optimal grip helps players move swiftly and effortlessly, but stay grounded when executing powerful swings. The style also offers signature Skechers technologies for added comfort and performance. This starts with the Goodyear® rubber outsole that complements the metal spikes for additional traction, grip and durability. The lightweight ULTRA GO® cushioning midsole and Skechers Move Foam™ insole elevate the comfort through long matches while Skechers Arch Fit® technology offers extra support. Additionally, the lightweight and flexible design allows for natural foot movement.
Several elite Indian cricket players currently compete in Skechers including globally-acclaimed bowler Jasprit Bumrah—who earned the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Award for the 2024 ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year—as well as Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Siraj, and Yastika Bhatia. After a historic five-wicket haul for India at Lord’s last summer, Bumrah donated his Skechers Cricket shoes to the MCC Museum where they are on display. Skechers is also the official kit sponsor of the Mumbai Indians men’s and women’s teams.
The Skechers Cricket collection is available now at select Skechers retail stores in the UK and online at skechers.com.
About Skechers USA Ltd. and SKECHERS U.S.A., Inc.
Skechers USA Ltd. is a subsidiary of Skechers U.S.A., Inc., The Comfort Technology Company ® based in Southern California. Skechers designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company’s collections are available in 180 countries and territories through department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through skechers.com and approximately 5,300 Skechers retail stores. A Fortune 500 ® company, Skechers manages its international business through a network of wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint venture partners, and distributors. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Globally acclaimed bowler Japrit Bumrah with Skechers Cricket Elite footwear.
Skechers Cricket footwear arrives in the United Kingdom with the Skechers Cricket Elite style.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto received a collection of cultural artifacts from the country's Papua region that had been illegally taken to the United States, officials said Thursday.
The handover took place late Wednesday during a meeting with FBI Director Kash Patel at Prabowo’s residence in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Patel arrived in Jakarta shortly after talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet concerning joint efforts to combat international online scam operations that cheat victims out of billions of dollars annually.
The exchange underscored growing cooperation between Indonesia and the U.S. in recovering stolen cultural heritage and returning the items to the country of origin, Indonesia Culture Minister Fadli Zon said.
The artifacts from Papua are part of the cultural heritage of the Dani and Asmat tribes and Lake Sentani communities. They were repatriated through cooperation between Indonesia’s Culture Ministry and the FBI after provenance research established the objects had been smuggled out of Indonesia, Zon said.
“These are very valuable objects because this repatriation process is part of our effort to restore our cultural sovereignty,” Zon said, adding that the artifacts will be displayed at Indonesia’s National Museum.
Images from Indonesia's Presidential Secretariat show several polished stone ax heads and ceremonial objects traditionally associated with Papuan societies.
Traditional Papuan stone axes were more than utilitarian tools. Among highland communities such as the Dani, they historically served as symbols of wealth and status, were exchanged in marriage and ceremonial transactions and were often passed down as treasured ancestral heirlooms, the Culture Ministry said.
The return is the latest in a series of efforts by U.S. authorities to recover and repatriate Southeast Asian cultural property that was trafficked through international antiquities networks, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta said in a statement.
Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced the return of two bronze, Buddhist sculptures depicting Avalokiteshvara from the eighth century, the embassy said.
During a repatriation ceremony at the Indonesian Consulate on July 10, Clayton said U.S. authorities would continue working with Homeland Security Investigations to combat illicit trafficking in cultural property and return stolen artworks to their origin countries.
The sculptures were stolen from Indonesian archaeological sites and sold to an American collector by the late antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford. The sculptures were among 34 Southeast Asian antiquities voluntarily relinquished by the collector in 2021 after investigators determined they had been looted.
The Indonesian sculptures were removed decades ago by organized looters before entering the international art market through Latchford, a Bangkok-based dealer who was indicted by U.S. authorities in 2019 for allegedly orchestrating a large-scale trafficking scheme involving antiquities looted from Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries. The case was later dismissed following his death, the U.S. embassy said.
The FBI has previously assisted Indonesia in recovering stolen cultural objects, including bronze statues and artifacts from historical and archaeological sites, according to Zon, who expressed hope that the cooperation on cultural repatriation and restitution would continue.
Indonesia has intensified efforts in recent years to track down cultural treasures scattered abroad through colonial-era collecting, theft and illicit trafficking, including from the Netherlands, which colonized Indonesia for centuries.
In this photo released by the Press, Media and Information Bureau of the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, right, walks with FBI Director Kash Patel during their meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Indonesian Presidential Secretariat via AP)
In this photo released by the Press, Media and Information Bureau of the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, left, talks with FBI Director Kash Patel during their meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Indonesian Presidential Secretariat via AP)
