Preview: YPLN Women’s Premier League [2026]

In this pre-season round-up, we’ll explore the changes with women and girls’ cricket for the Yorkshire Premier League North (YPLN) 2026 season.

Thanks to Alice Johnson for her insight as the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation’s Women & Girls Development Manager, as well as her regional league Chair commitments.

The YPLN Women’s Premier League has become a ten-team competition for 2026.

Yapham (batter, above) have come down from the Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League, while Beverley Town and Fairburn are newly formed teams, albeit with cricketers from various clubs.

Kirkella won the Championship East last season and their squad wants to test themselves up a level.

The desire for more fixtures, allied with natural progression of clubs’ women and girls’ sections has fuelled this expansion from six sides.

As for playing conditions, the collective decision by Premier League clubs was to continue to play 30 overs per innings, with the move to 40 overs inked in for 2027.

YPLN Women’s Premier League: Beverley Town, Clifton Alliance, Driffield Town, Fairburn, Goole Town, Kirkella, Sessay, Wykeham, Yapham, York.

Meanwhile, Championship East has three new sides in Carlton Towers (below), Hull Zingari and Welton. In Championship North, they’ve gained a club with Ouseburn now playing hardball cricket.

Geography is something to acknowledge in North and East Yorkshire cricketing circles without the density of teams that West Yorkshire has. Nonetheless, softball cricket is flourishing with more divisions.

The intention, if demand is there, could see a stepping stone division in future for those from YPLN softball squads. It may look like the Super Eights format of hardball pairs cricket that other leagues use as a hybrid.

The overall picture of softball cricket in this region is festivals with the energy of a one-off event proving popular and the ability to host multiple fixtures across a day.

Other benefits with the league admin is sourcing grounds is likely to be simpler than a weekly requirement.

Alice told me that there is no commitment at the start of the season so no-one is locked into a softball programme for months at a time. In other parts of Yorkshire, more formal softball leagues run weekly but there’s not one way to do things.

In East Yorkshire, there are two softball divisions – East Yorkshire & Selby – with sides able to play across both. The fluidity and informality of festivals is presumably aimed at nurturing interest gradually.

For 2026, a York softball festival offering is coming while the Nidderdale League will run women’s softball for the first time, as well as the Hambleton League (connected with the NYSD) and Scarborough and Ryedale.

For a bit of history, in December 2024, the YPLN amalgamated with the North & East Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League and the Scarborough and Ryedale Women & Girls Cricket League. Both of these leagues have their own separate sub-committees to run the cricket, with support from the main YPLN board in areas such as safeguarding.

It’s a trend we’ve seen develop with more women and girls cricket in Yorkshire and the practical way to manage the admin and communication across clubs.

Regional cricket preserved

The county club’s decision not to continue girls regional cricket this year did not go down well, to put it kindly. (Their focus instead is on Early Engagement, County Age Group, EPP and Academy programmes).

In 2025, there had been U13 & 15 girls regional cricket where teams from across Yorkshire would play each other.

The three Premier Leagues have taken up the baton and will be running the programme instead. With the goal to drive standards up, particularly in the top division, these talented girls will play each other in the regional competition and then the hope is that more of them are involved with their clubs in league cricket too.

The Women’s Premier League fixtures begin on Sunday 19 April with Championship North & East on 26 April.

Want to read more?

We have an extensive women and girls’ cricket section, packed with club visits, interviews and photography.

There are also 2026 previews for the West Yorkshire Women & Girls League and South Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League.