MIDDLESEX'S new sponsors have given the cash injection necessary to challenge for a place back at county cricket's top table.

The county this week announced Ignis Asset Management as their new long-term principal sponsors on a three-year contract.

As part of the deal, the Ignis logo will adorn the Middlesex players' strips for Twenty20, one-day and Championship matches.

Middlesex chief executive Vinny Codrington said: "To have agreed a long-term sponsorship relationship in these extremely testing financial times is no mean feat in itself. "To have sourced and secured a sponsor that gives us the financial stability we need moving forward, and to have found one that shares our vision for the future, is a truly exceptional result."

Ignis will also help the county promote grass roots cricket in west London schools and communities.