The brief
Dunstall Cricket Club is an ambitious amateur organisation, based at one of the most picturesque grounds in Staffordshire. Its junior section caters for youngsters aged five to 19 across all soft and hard-ball formats.
Recognising that the club’s values aligned closely with its own commitment to the community, MIH stepped in as the main sponsor of Dunstall’s junior section for 2023 and 2024.
Working together, the aim was to help bring to fruition the club’s plans to grow the game by expanding year-round training and playing opportunities to players of all ages, genders, abilities and backgrounds.

What we did
In line with one of our key values of ‘making a positive difference,’ MIH has long supported young sports stars to achieve their ambitions, both at a local and national level. For many years, our backing for Katie Hand and other aspiring motorcycle racers has led to significant success on the track, most recently in our capacity as title sponsor for the factory-backed Triumph 660 Sportbike team.
However, MIH’s support for aspiring talent extends way beyond financial backing alone. Our commitment involves nurturing and developing young people by providing personal coaching and mentoring, alongside the PR and marketing expertise that will help to drive them and their teams forward.
We were inspired to work with Dunstall CC after learning of the club’s ambitions around inclusivity. Among its goals was a desire to continue to provide opportunities for juniors as part of an integrated club programme – including pathway, participation, officials and learning opportunities – all year round. It also wanted to increase the number of active junior members across age groups by 10%, as well as inspiring more girls and women to and take up cricket.
Our bespoke sponsorship package included:
· Financial support: A one-off sum paid in each of the two years, to help augment winter and summer coaching programmes, coach education and supply training wear.
· Videography services: A package of support from our production team to create a short promotional video showcasing the success of the club’s junior section. The club was able to leverage the film on social media and across its marketing channels to reach out to a new generation of potential cricketers.
· Facility provision: we provided the club with the use of our on-site MIH Spaces raining facility, which allowed the club to run an ‘introduction to umpiring’ workshop for a group of its young players, in conjunction with the Derbyshire ACO (Umpires & Scorers Association).
The result
Around 120 youngsters aged five to 17 were registered to play for Dunstall across soft and hard-ball formats in 2024, an increase of around 14 per cent on the previous season and the highest number in the club’s history to date.
In a year of breaking new ground, the club fielded its first-ever all-girls’ junior team amid a spike in female participation, feeding into a new women’s team. It was also a double league-winning campaign for the under-15s squad.
Thanks to MIH’s support, there was also an investment in a mentoring scheme to develop and upskill junior coaches, with further plans in place to boost volunteer numbers and enhance the club’s coaching offer moving forward.

“MIH’s support has enabled us to truly enrich our junior section and it has been appreciated by club members, coaches and parents alike. We have very much benefitted from MIH’s expertise as a communications organisation. They led a collaboration, with the club, that aimed to produce a video to showcase the club's value. I would encourage and recommend all groups and companies to seek the expert help of this friendly, expert and growing firm."
Derek Noakes, Chairman, Dunstall Cricket Club