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In 2016, the four ECB Premier Leagues (now five) involving Yorkshire clubs agreed on a new pyramid structure for the grassroots game. The intention was to raise standards on and off the field, introduce a competition to decide a Yorkshire champion and create a pathway for any club to rise.
By joining an ECB Premier League, there is a degree of prestige that comes with that as well as requirements around the number of junior teams, benchmarks for pitches and a myriad of other levels to attain.
More than ten years on, what have been the changes? What are the trends to unpick?
What is the Yorkshire pyramid?
I’d like to think there is a nice graphic of the full pyramid structure in a desk drawer somewhere. I’ve never seen one. Of course, as soon as it runs off the printer, it’ll go out of date.
The creation of the Huddersfield Premier Cricket League since. The clubs and leagues that have come and gone. A situation forever shifting like the sand dunes of Egypt.
What we do know is the very pointy bit (White Rose Trophy) and the five ECB Premier Leagues just underneath.
They comprise: the Yorkshire Cricket Southern Premier League, Bradford Premier Cricket League, Yorkshire Premier League North, North Yorkshire & South Durham Cricket League and the aforementioned Huddersfield Premier Cricket League.
Fewer cricket leagues
The plan had been for feeder leagues to link in with a local ECB Premier League in Yorkshire - though the reality is that there are now fewer leagues to act as those pipelines in existence and that number may drop further.
When the pyramid formed, a proposed West Yorkshire Premier Cricket League might have comprised the cream of the Bradford Premier, Aire-Wharfe and Huddersfield leagues. No-one could agree on the pecking order so Bradford took the crown, with Huddersfield achieving the accreditation years later too.
The unquestionable trend is that since the pyramid came in, clubs have sought (on a regular basis) to leave for one of the five ECB Premier Leagues that Yorkshire XIs take part in.
That affects them but also the league now facing gaps and the league welcoming them has to balance divisions and potential geography headaches.
There’s also a responsibility on ECB Premier Leagues to help clubs in their catchment area (however large).
That has been one of the greatest achievements of the Yorkshire cricket pyramid to date in catering for clubs caught up in leagues folding or merging. The YPLN (and Craven) absorbing part of the Wetherby League, likewise the YCSPL with the Yorkshire & Derbyshire League's conclusion).
Beyond those leagues like the Central Yorkshire that merged into the Bradford Premier at the time of the consolidation, there has been plenty of change in the last decade.
Take the merger of the Yorkshire South Premier League & the South Yorkshire Senior Cricket League for the 2021 season (new name of Yorkshire Cricket Southern Premier League - YCSPL).
Likewise, Scarborough Beckett League clubs chose to join the YPLN for 2025, with York Vale sides following suit.
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Clubs that climbed in the pyramid
In 2016, Clifton Alliance won the York Senior League Division 1 title and as that was a feeder league at the time, the club chose to join Yorkshire Premier League North for 2017.
Clifton Alliance came 10th in their first two seasons but rose steadily to win the YPLN in 2024 and then again in 2026 - when the York-based outfit also lifted the White Rose Trophy as Yorkshire’s champion club.
A similar ascent is that of Carlton Towers who lost out to Dringhouses in a Division 2 Ebor promotion battle in 2016. They gradually moved up through the divisions to reach the YPLN Premier Division by 2026.
Out West, stalwarts of the old Central Yorkshire League became part of the Bradford Premier League. They were initially placed lower down but 1st XIs like Methley and Townville worked their way up. The latter are now regular league contenders, as well as a potent T20 side and had strong runs in national competitions in the past two seasons.
Wakefield Thornes opted to look to South Yorkshire and won the first three Yorkshire South Premier League titles (and were inaugural White Rose Champions of Yorkshire - held in Abu Dhabi!)
Clubs that fell
In the Yorkshire County League - a Premier League for the region that spanned Sheffield Collegiate to Scarborough - there was no relegation.
The closed shop ended with the league splitting in 2015, as regional Premier Leagues came into being.
Consequently, the old guard could now be relegated and that’s exactly what happened to Doncaster Town and Rotherham Town in 2016.
The fortunes of those two examples have diverged quite a bit since… as Doncaster Town bounced back and went on to win the South Yorkshire Premier League in 2019.
Rotherham Town did not return to the top division and, as I reported in 2025, voted to leave league cricket.
Another surprise example is Scarborough who withdrew their 1st XI from the YPLN Premier Division for the 2025 season and now find themselves in the Eastern Conference, three promotions from where they once were. (I interviewed the club in 2025 about its reset).
NYSD: Trend setters
It can be overlooked that the North Yorkshire & South Durham Cricket League has been an ECB Premier League since 2012.
It was not part of the wider re-organisation but their pre-eminent teams in the Premier Division have been Richmondshire (six titles since 2015) and Barnard Castle (2016, 2018 & 2025).
Richmondshire defeated New Farnley to win the 2024 White Rose Trophy; the first NYSD side to do so.
From the outside looking in, the NYSD seem a more settled Premier League in that they haven’t needed to repeatedly restructure due to absorbing other leagues and lots of clubs.
They moved to five Saturday divisions in 2017; a switch to smaller divisions rather than absorbing other leagues.
Beyond the pyramid
What of those cricket leagues that are quietly doing their own thing? In West Yorkshire, the Halifax, Craven & Aire-Wharfe have lost teams, gained teams but largely been settled and unaffected by the broader structure.
The Halifax League was meant to be a feeder league initially but their champions such as Thornton opted not to move to the Bradford Premier League. It’s a decision juggling a jump in standards of cricket, travel, grounds, costs, entry requirements and the existing relationships forged.
The Aire-Wharfe League’s top sides - such as Otley - have not sought a move away. It lost Beckwithshaw to the YPLN but gained Saltaire from the Bradford League.
The story in the Nidderdale Cricket League is often framed around the demise of its rural village teams but there are those, such as Ben Rhydding from the Aire-Wharfe League, who have benefited from a change of scene.
None more so than Upper Wharfedale who dropped to one team, left the Aire-Wharfe League, joined the Nidderdale League in Division Six and have just been crowned champions of Division One.
A mention for the inner-city leagues that continue through ups and downs like everyone else.
The Bradford Mutual Sunday School League, Quaid e Azam Sunday League & Quaid e Azam Premier League are still powering along. Each has evolved, changed formats, won sponsors, had controversies and done their own thing.
Wrapping up
A club’s fortunes aren’t uniquely tied to the league they are in... playing strength, financial stability, volunteers and all manner of scenarios can propel or undermine them.
The issue for the biggest leagues would seem to remain balancing divisions so they’re fair and address travel considerations, while a continual need to restructure keeps everyone on their toes.
Running a cricket club or a league today sounds as if it is more complicated, admin-heavy and onerous than back in 2016. That's nothing to do with pyramids but the world we're in. Do we over-complicate the game sometimes? Without doubt.
The pyramid has allowed some clubs in Yorkshire to climb and shine where previously they were shackled. Many have continued oblivious to any remodelling while others have watched, waited and then jumped in or out.
Is Yorkshire cricket more connected as a result now? Is the standard of league cricket better? Is it better organised than before?
You could argue the pyramid has really flattened out.
If I've merely nibbled on the toes of those questions here, it's because they aren't binary or straightforward. The history of cricket leagues in Yorkshire has been a source of pride and at times an obstacle to change.
The landscape will shift again, like tectonic plates, in another decade or so.
What would you change for the next 10 years?
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