The ECB Premier Leagues are a series of regional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

leagues organised by the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

(ECB) that form the top tier of

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obs ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

. The ECB published "Raising the Standard" in 1997, the ECB Management Board Blueprint for the Future Playing Structure of cricket. This introduced the concept of ECB Premier Leagues, designed to raise the playing standard of the top tier of club cricket and to bridge the gap between recreational cricket and the First Class game. A national network of Premier Leagues was established, with funding from the ECB. The Leagues have to meet the published ECB assessment criteria and they receive accreditation on an annual basis. Premier Leagues are expected to establish links to other leagues in order to allow ambitious clubs to aspire to Premier League status over time. Many were based on existing leagues although some new Regional Premier Leagues were created. The ECB decided that overseas players are allowed to play in this top tier of club cricket provided that there is only one overseas player in any Premier League club team, which mirrors the arrangements for overseas players in the club cricket structures in countries such as

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The Premier League clubs must show a strong commitment to junior cricket and the assessment criteria explicitly require strong junior sections that can provide cricket coaching and matches for the next generation of cricketers. There is also an increased emphasis on practice and the development of skills for the adult players in Premier League clubs.

Current ECB Premier Leagues

Birmingham and District Premier League The Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League is the oldest club cricket league in the United Kingdom, formed in 1888. It was the first England and Wales Cricket Board, ECB ECB Premier Leagues, Premier League, being designated such in 1998, a ...

Bradford Premier League The Bradford Premier League (currently known as the Gordon Rigg Bradford Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is an amateur cricket competition centred in Bradford, West Yorkshire. It has been described as "arguably England's strongest amate ...

Cheshire County Cricket League The Cheshire County Cricket League is a cricket league based in England. It is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the Cheshire area and is a designated ECB Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Foo ...

Cornwall Cricket League The Bond Timber Cornwall Cricket League Premier Division is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Cornwall, United Kingdom and is a designated an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Premier League.Derbyshire County Cricket League The Premier Division of the Derbyshire County Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Derbyshire, England, and is a designated ECB Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Assoc ...

Devon Cricket League The Tolchards Devon Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Devon, England, and the League Headquarters is in Little Torrington, Devon. The league was founded in 1972, and since 2000 it has been a designat ...

East Anglian Premier Cricket League The East Anglian Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the English region of East Anglia. Since it was formed in 1999 the league has been a designated ECB Premier League.Essex Cricket League The Hamro Foundation Essex Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Essex and East London, England. The league was founded in 1972. Since 1999 it has been a designated ECB Premier League.Hertfordshire Cricket League The Hertfordshire Cricket League is a league cricket competition based in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Since 2015 it has been a designated ECB Premier League, the highest level of recreational club cricket in England and Wales. History ...

Home Counties Premier Cricket League The Home Counties Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the Home Counties of England, and has been a designated ECB Premier League since its founding in 2000. It originally served Bedfordshire, ...

Kent Cricket League The Kent Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Kent, England. The league was founded in 1970 and the first season of play was 1971. The twelve founding clubs were Ashford, Aylesford Paper Mills, Dart ...

Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket League The Everards Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket League (Leicestershire Cricket League until 2014) is the top level of competition for the amateur, recreational game of club cricket in Leicestershire and Rutland, England, and since 2002 has been ...

Lincolnshire Premier League The Lincolnshire Premier League (referred to in some sources as Lincolnshire County Board Premier League and Lincolnshire Cricket Board Premier League) is the top level of competition for club cricket in Lincolnshire, England. The league was c ...

Liverpool and District Cricket Competition The Love Lane Liverpool and District Cricket Competition is regarded as the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the Liverpool area and since 2000 has been a designated England and Wales Cricket Board, ECB ECB Premier Leagu ...

Middlesex County Cricket League The Middlesex County Cricket League (MCCL) is the only adult Saturday league for recreational club cricket in the historic county of Middlesex, England. In practical terms, this means it encompasses teams from North and West London. The league ...

North East Premier League The North East Premier League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the North East, serving the historic counties of Durham and Northumberland. Since 2000 it has been a designated ECB Premier League The Premi ...

North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League The North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire area of England, and the league Headquarters is based in Stoke on Tren ...

North Wales Cricket League The North Wales Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in North Wales, and the league Headquarters is based at The Oval, Llandudno, Wales LL30 2TB . Since 2001, the North Wales Cricket League has been an ac ...

North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League, commonly abbreviated to NYSD, is the top level competition for recreational club cricket in the north of Yorkshire and south of Durham, England. The league was founded as long ago as 1892, th ...

Northamptonshire Cricket League The Hevey Building Supplies Northamptonshire Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Northamptonshire, England, and since 1999 has been a designated ECB Premier League. The league headquarters is based i ...

Northern Premier Cricket League The Northern Premier Cricket League is a cricket league in the North West of England and was designated as an ECB Premier League in 2000.

Nottinghamshire Cricket Board Premier League The Nottinghamshire Cricket Board Premier League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Nottinghamshire, England, and since it was formed in 1999 it has been a designated ECB Premier League.South Wales Premier Cricket League The South Wales Premier Cricket League, is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in South Wales. The league was founded in 1999 as the South East Wales League, being renamed following its accreditation as an ECB Premier Le ...

Southern Premier Cricket League The Southern Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in central southern England. The League was founded in 1969 under the name Southern Cricket League, and in 2000 it adopted the name Southern Premi ...

Surrey Championship The Surrey Championship is a cricket organisation in Surrey running 6 divisions for 1st & 2nd XI cricket, 4 for 3rd XI and 4 for 4th XI. Since 2000 it has been a designated ECB Premier League. The teams competing in the Premier Division in 2020 w ...

Sussex Cricket League The Sussex Cricket League, founded in 1971, is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Sussex, England, and since 1999 the Premier Division has been a designated ECB Premier League. The League Headquarters is based in Hov ...

West of England Premier League The West of England Premier League (WEPL) is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the West of England and is a designated ECB Premier League. Since its inception in 1999, the most successful club has been Bath, havin ...

Yorkshire Premier League North The Yorkshire Premier League North was formed in early 2016 following the re-structure of club cricket within Yorkshire, and is an ECB Premier League. Of the initial twelve competing teams, six were from the now disbanded Yorkshire ECB County ...

Yorkshire South Premier League The Yorkshire South Premier League was formed in early 2016, as part of the restructuring of club cricket in Yorkshire, and is an ECB Premier League. Of the twelve initial teams competing, seven came from the now disbanded Yorkshire ECB County ...

Former ECB Premier League

Yorkshire ECB County Premier League The Yorkshire ECB County Premier League was the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Yorkshire, England, and between 1999 and 2015 was a designated ECB Premier League. The competing teams in 2015, which was the league's l ...

- dissolved after 2015 season and replaced by

and

External links

ECB Premier Leagues
{{Cricket in England English domestic cricket competitions

Current ECB Premier Leagues

Former ECB Premier League

See also

External links