The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the 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 County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council. In April 1998 the Women's Cricket Association was integrated into the organisation. The ECB's head offices are at Lord's Cricket Ground in north-west London.
The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. It is the top-level Twenty20 competition in England and Wales.
Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship competitions played at different levels: the County Championship, a first-class competition which involves eighteen first-class county clubs among which seventeen are English and one is from Wales; and the National Counties Championship, which involves nineteen English county clubs and one club that represents several Welsh counties.
The ECB National Club Cricket Championship is a forty over limited overs knockout club cricket competition in England. The most successful clubs have been Scarborough, from North Yorkshire, with five titles and Old Hill, from Staffordshire, with four.
Cricket is one of the most popular sports in England, and has been played since the 16th century. Marylebone Cricket Club, based at Lord's, developed the modern rules of play and conduct. The sport is administered by the England and Wales Cricket Board and represented at an international level by the England men's team and England women's team. At a domestic level, teams are organised by county, competing in tournaments such as the County Championship, Metro Bank One-Day Cup, T20 Blast and the Women's Twenty20 Cup. Recent developments include the introduction of a regional structure for women's cricket and the establishment of The Hundred for both men's and women's cricket. Recreational matches are organised on a regional basis, with the top level being the ECB Premier Leagues.
Bath Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club based in the city of Bath, Somerset. The club was founded in 1859 and the Men's 1st XI compete in the West of England Premier League, which is an accredited ECB Premier League, the highest level for recreational club cricket in England and Wales. Bath Cricket Club currently run four Men's teams, and two Women's Teams. In 2003 Bath Cricket Club merged with Somerset Wanderers Women's cricket team. The Women's teams use the playing name of Bath Wanderers. The Women's 1st XI play in the National Women's Premier League - South Division. This is also the highest level for recreational clubs. Bath CC Men’s 1st XI won the ECB National Club Championship in 2021.
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 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. St Just CC are the most successful club, having won the competition on eight occasions.
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 was founded in 2000 as a separate league from the Derbyshire County Cricket League, and at that time was called the Derbyshire Premier Cricket League. The two leagues amalgamated before the 2016 season, and the Derbyshire Premier Cricket League became the Premier Division of the Derbyshire County Cricket League. While most of the league's member clubs are from Derbyshire, there are also clubs from the Burton upon Trent area of Staffordshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.
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, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire, although there are at present no Bedfordshire clubs in the league and all but one of the Hertfordshire clubs withdrew after the 2013 season.
The Kent Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Kent, England.
The Lincolnshire Premier League is the top level of competition for club cricket in Lincolnshire, England.
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 divisional system with Premier, First and Second Divisions. The Southport and District Amateur Cricket League is its feeder 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 was founded in 1972, and since 1999 the top division of the Middlesex County Cricket League has been a designated ECB Premier League.
The Hertfordshire Women's cricket team is the women's representative cricket team for the English historic county of Hertfordshire. They play their home games at various grounds across the county, including Knebworth Park, Knebworth and London Road, Tring. They are captained by Kezia Hassall. In 2019, they played in Division Three of the final season of the Women's County Championship, and in 2021 won the East Group of the Women's Twenty20 Cup. They are partnered with the regional side Sunrisers.
The Northamptonshire Women's cricket team is the women's representative cricket team for the English historic county of Northamptonshire. They play their home games at various grounds across the county, including Dolben Cricket Ground, Finedon and Northampton Road, Brixworth. They are captained by Patricia Hankins. In 2019, they played in Division Three of the final season of the Women's County Championship, and have since competed in the Women's Twenty20 Cup. They are partnered with the regional side Sunrisers.
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, the first competition was held in the following year.
100-ball cricket is a short form of cricket designed to attract new audiences to the game with simplified rules, which was originally created by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for its new city-based competition The Hundred.
Slough Cricket Club is a cricket club based in Berkshire, in southern England. Slough Cricket Club has been at the forefront of cricket in the Thames Valley since it moved to Chalvey Road in 1899. It joined the Thames Valley League on its inception in 1972 and has remained in the top division ever since. Their first team play in Division Two of the Home Counties Premier Cricket League, with the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th elevens playing in divisions 1,3,5,7 and 9 respectively in the Thames Valley Cricket League, a Sunday eleven team who participate in the South East Shires Cricket League, and a Junior Section, who play in the Berkshire Youth Cricket League.
The Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the Vitality Women's County T20, is a women's Twenty20 cricket competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Until the end of the 2019 season, teams were organised in tiered divisions, with a national winner; since, teams have been organised into regional groups.
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