The ECB Premier Leagues are a series of regional
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
leagues organised by the
England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka 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 ...
(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 obse ...
in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, 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. Th ...
. 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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.
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
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Birmingham and District Premier League
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Bradford Premier League
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Cheshire County Cricket League
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Cornwall Cricket League
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Derbyshire County Cricket League
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Devon Cricket League
* Dorset Cricket League
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East Anglian Premier Cricket League
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Essex Cricket League
* Greater Manchester Cricket League
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Hertfordshire Cricket League
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Home Counties Premier Cricket League
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Huddersfield Cricket League (from 2025)
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Kent Cricket League
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Lancashire Cricket League
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Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket League
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Lincolnshire Premier League
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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 ECB Premier League. The Competition operates a three d ...
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Middlesex County Cricket League
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North East Premier League
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North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League
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North Wales Cricket League
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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 County of Durham, Durham, England. The league was founded as lon ...
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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 ...
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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. Prior to that date it was known as the Northern Cricket League.
Because the Northern Premier Cricket Leag ...
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Nottinghamshire Cricket Board Premier League
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South Wales Premier Cricket League
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Southern Premier Cricket League
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Surrey Championship
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Sussex Cricket League
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West of England Premier League
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Yorkshire Premier League North
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Yorkshire Cricket Southern Premier League
Former ECB Premier League
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Yorkshire ECB County Premier League – dissolved after 2015 season and replaced by
Yorkshire Premier League North and
Yorkshire South Premier League, since renamed
Yorkshire Cricket Southern Premier League
See also
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England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka 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 ...
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List of English and Welsh cricket league clubs
External links
ECB Premier Leagues
{{Cricket in England
English domestic cricket competitions