Following lengthy negotiations throughout the winter months the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Premier Cricket League is pleased to announce the successful completion of its highest sponsorship deal in the League’s history. The League will become known as the WATERWORLD NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE AND SOUTH CHESHIRE PREMIER CRICKET LEAGUE.
The League, one of the best ECB Premier Leagues in the Country, had a magnificent season last year culminating in their representative team winning the League Cricket Conference Trophy. Last week there was further good news when they were adjudged the best Senior Team in The Sentinel Stoke-on-Trent Sports Awards, held at the Moat House Hotel on Festival Park.
Formed in 1962, the League has gone from strength to strength and now has eight divisions –
four 1st XI and four 2nd XI – with 44 clubs and 96 teams competing in their competitions each week. Each club must have several junior teams to qualify for membership, some having as many as 6 sides, comprising male and female players, and they must be coached by ECB accredited coaches.
Many Test and First Class County players started their careers with clubs in the League including Bob Taylor, Ken Higgs, Peter Gibbs, Kim Barnett, Dave Follett and Alan Richardson, whilst more recently Dan Redfern and David Wheeldon have made their First Class County debuts. Also, many of the World’s finest international stars have graced the playing fields of clubs within the League including Jim Laker, Sir Garfield Sobers, Wes Hall, Nasim ul Ghani, Mushtaq Ahned, Imran Tahir, Shahid Afridi, Otis Gibson, Vasbert Drakes, Alfonso Thomas and Albie and Morne Morkel. The League has become renowned for bringing these world famous players to play against the best of local talent, something that very rarely happens in any other sport.
The Waterworld Group of companies are to sponsor 3 of the Divisions:
Premier division: Waterworld
Championship Div 2: ASC Financial Management
Championship Div 3: Little Gym.
JSW Insurance will head up Championship Division One.
The master agreement for all the 4 divs was signed last week by the Waterworld Chairman Mo Chaudry and the league Chairman Chris Hopkin.
The League with receive a considerable five figure sum over the next four years plus a significant opportunity for clubs to gain financially by working with the Sponsors.
Dukes recently finalised a new three year contract to supply cricket balls to the League, whilst the Hanley Economic Building Society and the Sentinel have agreed to continue their sponsorship of the Talbot Cup and Talbot Shield respectively.
Gary Stanyer, from Spyderbats in Tunstall, has also agreed to continue his support of the League Colts Trophy competition which had a most successful first season last year.
However, despite talks with several interested parties, the League has yet to conclude deals for two important parts of its structure – the extremely popular Twenty/20 competition and the newly formed League Development XI who are to play a series of matches against First Class County Second XI and Academies during the forthcoming season.
Keith Tunnicliffe, the League Manager, said “The League is recognised as one of the best Premier Leagues in the Country by the ECB, and we are always striving to improve our administration, grounds and facilities, coaching for junior players, fair play and general standards of cricket. All players within the League are encouraged to play at the highest level possible, and the commitment of the League officials is to provide the best possible opportunities, especially for our younger players. The unsung heroes at our clubs devote much time and effort to accommodate players from all walks of life and provide a competitive game of cricket for them to test their skills. This sponsorship will help stabilise our finances, assist clubs to meet the rising costs of running such a large organisation, and hopefully improve our profile throughout the community. We have always had great pride in the high calibre players attracted to play in our League, and the magnificent work put in by our clubs in improving their facilities in order to develop our talented youngsters, thus creating an excellent safe environment for them to play their sport. The sponsors now involved with the League are not only providing financial assistance to help us progress to the next level, but they are also prepared to give our individual clubs the opportunity to raise much needed funds for themselves.”