The Bradford Premier League (currently known as the Gordon Rigg Bradford Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is a semi-professional cricket competition centred in Bradford, West Yorkshire. It has been described as "arguably England's strongest semi-professional competition."[3]
Bradford Premier League
Countries
England
Format
Semi-professional 50 over game
First edition
1903 (Founded) 2016 (ECB Premier League)
Tournament format
Four divisions
Number of teams
48
Current champion
Woodlands CC
Most successful
Bradford CC, Pudsey St Lawrence CC, and Woodlands CC (10 titles each)
The league is structured into four divisions. Many teams are from Bradford, with others from neighbouring towns and cities across West Yorkshire.
The league was renamed the Bradford Premier League in 2016, upon the merger of the Bradford Cricket League and the Central Yorkshire Cricket League, and since 2016 it has been a designated ECB Premier League. Since 2016, the winners qualify to take part in the Yorkshire Championship, together with the winners of the Yorkshire Premier League North and the Yorkshire Cricket Southern Premier League, and the leading Yorkshire club in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League. Hanging Heaton won the Yorkshire Championship in 2017, the only team from the Bradford League to do so thus far.
The Bradford Cricket League was formed in 1903 with twelve clubs but only two (Undercliffe and Bankfoot) of the inaugural twelve are current members.
The first club to win the Bradford Cricket League was Shelf, in 1903, claiming their only League title. In total, the League has had twenty-six different winners of its top division. The most successful clubs are Bradford CC, Pudsey St Lawrence CC, and Woodlands CC, with ten titles each.
The turn of the century saw the domination of Pudsey Congs and Woodlands within the top division. Pudsey Congs won five consecutive titles between 2000 and 2004, and Woodlands won the following four titles.
In 2016, The Bradford Cricket League merged with the Central Yorkshire League to form the Bradford Premier League. Until then, the League had operated as two divisions, but this format was expanded to four divisions to accommodate the extra teams.
The League runs two cup competitions for the first and second teams of every club within the League. The first team competition is the Priestley Cup, which has been running since 1904, and the second team competition is the Priestley Shield, which has been running since 1913. Both the Cup and Shield are named for Sir William Priestley, who donated the presentation trophies for which the competitions are played.[4]
The only club ever to have won the Cup three times in a row is East Bierley, who won in 1998, 1999 and 2000.[5] However, the most successful club in the competition is Undercliffe, who have won it fourteen times.[6]
StructureEdit
The League competition is made up of fixtures of fifty overs per side, with each team playing the others in their division both home and away. The strength of the League and its players is in part assisted by the League management having an open policy on the payment of players and no particular limit on the number of professional players in each game. However, teams are limited to one overseas player. In 2008 some first division sides have fielded as many as six players with professional (first-class) credentials.[citation needed]
There are certain playing restrictions that apply to all League fixtures. Bowlers are limited to bowling a maximum of fifteen overs per innings, the fielding side's innings must be bowled within 3 hours 10 minutes (failure to do so results in a points penalty), and the fielding side must have four fieldsmen plus the wicketkeeper and bowler within a 30-yard fielding circle at the moment of delivery (failure to do so results in a no-ball being called).[7]
Points are awarded as follows: 10 points for a win, 5 points to each side for a tie (scores level), 0 points for a loss, 5 points to each side for abandonment (no play), and 5 points to each side for an abandonment (with play, no win achieved). For all results, bar an abandonment with no play, teams can gain an added maximum of five bonus batting points and five bonus bowling points. Batting points are awarded as 1 point for scoring 125 runs, with an extra 1 point for every further 25 runs (to a maximum of 5 points), and bowling points are awarded as 1 point for every 2 wickets taken.[8] As thus, the maximum number of points that can be gained from a game is 20.
Spectators at first XI matches are often required to pay for entry and a programme. The League management has, from 2008, capped the maximum charge at £3, with concessions at £1.50. Second XI matches are capped at a maximum of 25p for adults and 10p for children. All gate receipts are kept by the home club.[9]
Some of the more notable members include Leonard Hutton, who was a youngster at Pudsey St Lawrence and Jack Hobbs who played at Idle between 1915 and 1918. Notable overseas players include West Indian fast bowler Learie Constantine, Indian Test player VVS Laxman and Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf.
The following Bradford League players have played international cricket:
^"Premier League – 2016". Bradfordcl.play-cricket.com.
^"Premier League – 2017". Bradfordcl.play-cricket.com.
^"Premier League – 2018". Bradfordcl.play-cricket.com.
^"Premier League – 2019". Bradfordcl.play-cricket.com.
^"Premier League – 2021". Bradfordcl.play-cricket.com.
^"Premier League – 2022". Bradfordcl.play-cricket.com.
^"Premier League – 2023". Bradfordcl.play-cricket.com.
^Nelson, Reg (15 May 2015). . Bradford Cricket League. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
^"Club History". Undercliffe Cricket Club. 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
External linksEdit
Official website
play-cricket website
October 21, 2023
bradford, premier, league, currently, known, gordon, rigg, sponsorship, reasons, semi, professional, cricket, competition, centred, bradford, west, yorkshire, been, described, arguably, england, strongest, semi, professional, competition, countriesenglandforma. The Bradford Premier League currently known as the Gordon Rigg Bradford Premier League for sponsorship reasons is a semi professional cricket competition centred in Bradford West Yorkshire It has been described as arguably England s strongest semi professional competition 3 Bradford Premier LeagueCountriesEnglandFormatSemi professional 50 over gameFirst edition1903 Founded 2016 ECB Premier League Tournament formatFour divisionsNumber of teams48Current championWoodlands CCMost successfulBradford CC Pudsey St Lawrence CC and Woodlands CC 10 titles each Most runsRichard Robinson 16 352 1 Most wicketsDavid Batty 1 823 2 The league is structured into four divisions Many teams are from Bradford with others from neighbouring towns and cities across West Yorkshire The league was renamed the Bradford Premier League in 2016 upon the merger of the Bradford Cricket League and the Central Yorkshire Cricket League and since 2016 it has been a designated ECB Premier League Since 2016 the winners qualify to take part in the Yorkshire Championship together with the winners of the Yorkshire Premier League North and the Yorkshire Cricket Southern Premier League and the leading Yorkshire club in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League Hanging Heaton won the Yorkshire Championship in 2017 the only team from the Bradford League to do so thus far Contents 1 History 2 Structure 3 Winners 4 Performance by season from 2016 5 Notable players 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksHistory EditThe Bradford Cricket League was formed in 1903 with twelve clubs but only two Undercliffe and Bankfoot of the inaugural twelve are current members The first club to win the Bradford Cricket League was Shelf in 1903 claiming their only League title In total the League has had twenty six different winners of its top division The most successful clubs are Bradford CC Pudsey St Lawrence CC and Woodlands CC with ten titles each The turn of the century saw the domination of Pudsey Congs and Woodlands within the top division Pudsey Congs won five consecutive titles between 2000 and 2004 and Woodlands won the following four titles In 2016 The Bradford Cricket League merged with the Central Yorkshire League to form the Bradford Premier League Until then the League had operated as two divisions but this format was expanded to four divisions to accommodate the extra teams The League runs two cup competitions for the first and second teams of every club within the League The first team competition is the Priestley Cup which has been running since 1904 and the second team competition is the Priestley Shield which has been running since 1913 Both the Cup and Shield are named for Sir William Priestley who donated the presentation trophies for which the competitions are played 4 The only club ever to have won the Cup three times in a row is East Bierley who won in 1998 1999 and 2000 5 However the most successful club in the competition is Undercliffe who have won it fourteen times 6 Structure EditThe League competition is made up of fixtures of fifty overs per side with each team playing the others in their division both home and away The strength of the League and its players is in part assisted by the League management having an open policy on the payment of players and no particular limit on the number of professional players in each game However teams are limited to one overseas player In 2008 some first division sides have fielded as many as six players with professional first class credentials citation needed There are certain playing restrictions that apply to all League fixtures Bowlers are limited to bowling a maximum of fifteen overs per innings the fielding side s innings must be bowled within 3 hours 10 minutes failure to do so results in a points penalty and the fielding side must have four fieldsmen plus the wicketkeeper and bowler within a 30 yard fielding circle at the moment of delivery failure to do so results in a no ball being called 7 Points are awarded as follows 10 points for a win 5 points to each side for a tie scores level 0 points for a loss 5 points to each side for abandonment no play and 5 points to each side for an abandonment with play no win achieved For all results bar an abandonment with no play teams can gain an added maximum of five bonus batting points and five bonus bowling points Batting points are awarded as 1 point for scoring 125 runs with an extra 1 point for every further 25 runs to a maximum of 5 points and bowling points are awarded as 1 point for every 2 wickets taken 8 As thus the maximum number of points that can be gained from a game is 20 Spectators at first XI matches are often required to pay for entry and a programme The League management has from 2008 capped the maximum charge at 3 with concessions at 1 50 Second XI matches are capped at a maximum of 25p for adults and 10p for children All gate receipts are kept by the home club 9 Winners EditYear Club1st XI Champions 1903 1922 1903 Shelf1904 Great Horton1905 Clayton1906 Great Horton1907 Undercliffe1908 Great Horton1909 Great Horton1910 Idle1911 Windhill1912 Bingley1913 Laisterdyke1914 Bradford1915 Bowling Old Lane1916 Idle1917 Saltaire1918 Saltaire1919 Keighley1920 Saltaire1921 Bingley1922 SaltaireYear Club1st XI Champions 1923 1942 1923 Bowling Old Lane1924 Bowling Old Lane1925 Undercliffe1926 Saltaire1927 Bradford1928 Bradford1929 Bradford1930 Brighouse1931 Brighouse1932 Brighouse1933 Bradford1934 Bradford1935 Undercliffe1936 Bradford1937 Windhill1938 Windhill1939 Windhill1940 Windhill1941 Windhill1942 Lidget GreenYear Club1st XI Champions 1943 1962 1943 Saltaire1944 Spen Victoria1945 Undercliffe1946 Keighley1947 Salts1948 Windhill1949 Salts1950 Baildon1951 Baildon1952 Baildon1953 Salts1954 Salts1955 Bradford1956 Pudsey St Lawrence1957 Lidget Green1958 Bradford1959 Bingley1960 Brighouse1961 Salts1962 FarsleyYear Club1st XI Champions 1963 1982 1963 Undercliffe1964 Lidget Green1965 Idle1966 Idle1967 Idle1968 Bradford1969 Bingley1970 Undercliffe1971 Undercliffe1972 Bankfoot1973 Bingley1974 Idle1975 Pudsey St Lawrence1976 Pudsey St Lawrence1977 Idle1978 Bowling Old Lane1979 Pudsey St Lawrence1980 Yorkshire Bank1981 East Bierley1982 BingleyYear Club1st XI Champions 1983 2002 1983 Yorkshire Bank1984 Pudsey St Lawrence1985 Pudsey St Lawrence1986 Undercliffe1987 Hanging Heaton1988 East Bierley1989 Hanging Heaton1990 Bradford and Bingley1991 Pudsey St Lawrence1992 Bradford and Bingley1993 East Bierley1994 East Bierley1995 Hanging Heaton1996 East Bierley1997 Undercliffe1998 Bradford and Bingley1999 Hanging Heaton2000 Pudsey Congs2001 Pudsey Congs2002 Pudsey CongsYear Club1st XI Champions 2003 2023 2003 Pudsey Congs2004 Pudsey Congs2005 Woodlands2006 Woodlands2007 Woodlands2008 Woodlands2009 Baildon2010 Pudsey Congs2011 Woodlands2012 Woodlands2013 Cleckheaton2014 Cleckheaton2015 Pudsey St Lawrence2016 Pudsey St Lawrence2017 Hanging Heaton2018 Pudsey St Lawrence2019 Woodlands2020 no competition2021 Woodlands2022 Woodlands2023 Woodlands Source 10 Performance by season from 2016 EditKeyGold ChampionsRed RelegatedPerformance by season from 2016 Club 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024Bankfoot 9 12Batley 11 10 12Bradford and Bingley 7 7 10 6 8 5 7Cleckheaton 6 9 7 9 9 11East Bierley 10 10 11Farsley 3 3 6 7 6 6 4Hanging Heaton 2 1 3 3 4 8 11Jer Lane 5Lightcliffe 9 8 9 12Methley 5 8 7 10 10Morley 11 11New Farnley 4 5 2 5 3 2 2Ossett 7 8Pudsey Congs 8 12 9Pudsey St Lawrence 1 4 1 4 5 4 6Scholes 12 12Townville 6 8 2 2 3 3Undercliffe 11Woodlands 5 2 4 1 1 1 1Wrenthorpe 10 12References 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Notable players EditSome of the more notable members include Leonard Hutton who was a youngster at Pudsey St Lawrence and Jack Hobbs who played at Idle between 1915 and 1918 Notable overseas players include West Indian fast bowler Learie Constantine Indian Test player VVS Laxman and Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf The following Bradford League players have played international cricket Baildon Brian Close England Matthew Hoggard England Colin de Grandhomme New Zealand Bankfoot Anthony McGrath England Derek Underwood England Bowling Old Lane Mohammad Yousuf Pakistan Martyn Moxon England Darren Gough England Bill Athey England Doug Padgett England Frank Lowson England Harold Rhodes England Bradford amp Bingley Gareth Batty England Matthew Hoggard England Adil Rashid England Brighouse George Hirst England Wilfred Rhodes England Cleckheaton Yajurvindra Singh India Suru Nayak India Abey Kuruvilla India Ian Austin England Andrew Gale England U19 Iain Wardlaw Scotland East Bierley Edwin St Hill West Indies Collis King West Indies Les Taylor England Roy Gilchrist West Indies Nick Cook England Jack Birkenshaw England Gavin Hamilton England Scotland Esholt Lou Vincent New Zealand Farsley Ray Illingworth England Brian Bolus England Craig White England Nathan Astle New Zealand Graham Roope England Gomersal Tony Blain New Zealand Great Horton Imran Nazir Pakistan Hanging Heaton Abdul Qadir Pakistan Dilip Vengsarkar India Sameer Dighe India VVS Laxman India Hartshead Moor Shahid Mahboob Pakistan Jacob Martin India Tim Bresnan England Idle Jack Hobbs England Stewie Dempster New Zealand Dinusha Fernando Sri Lanka Ijaz Ahmed Pakistan Mohammad Hafeez Pakistan Doug Padgett England 18 Keighley Frank Woolley England Jack Hearne England Schofield Haigh England Eddie Paynter England Arthur Dolphin England Lightcliffe Mohammed Kaif India Manningham Mills Phil Sharpe England Mike Veletta Australia Morley Bobby Peel England Pudsey Congs Herbert Sutcliffe England Matthew Hoggard England Rana Naved ul Hasan Pakistan VVS Laxman India Paul Grayson England Chris Silverwood England Derek Randall England Pudsey St Lawrence Leonard Hutton England Eddie Leadbeater England Steve Rhodes England Mark Greatbatch New Zealand Martin Crowe New Zealand Simon Doull New Zealand Chris Pringle New Zealand Anil Kumble India Queensbury Haroon Rasheed Pakistan Rashid Khan Pakistan Rizwan uz Zaman Pakistan Saltaire Sydney Barnes England Bill Voce England Tom Goddard England Jim Laker England Arthur Mitchell England Spen Victoria George Pope England Edwin St Hill West Indies Iqbal Qasim Pakistan Mansoor Akhtar Pakistan Wasim Jaffer India Vinod Kambli India Rao Iftikhar Anjum Pakistan Undercliffe 19 Cec Parkin England Charles Llewellyn South Africa George Gunn England Vic Wilson England Les Jackson England Alan Ward England David Bairstow England Mohammad Imran Khan Pakistan Faheem Ashraf Pakistan Alex Wharf England Windhill Lou Vincent New Zealand Charlie Parker England Les Ames England Amol Muzumdar India Learie Constantine West Indies Yeadon Geoff Cope England Brian Close England Ted Peate England In April 1999 Kathryn Leng became the first woman to play in the Bradford League representing the former Yorkshire Bank club See also EditBradford League the football equivalent Priestley CupReferences Edit Bradford Cricket League Batsmen scoring over 10 000 career runs Bradfordcricketleague org Bradford Cricket League Players with more than 1 000 1st XI League wickets since 1940 incl Bradfordcricketleague org Conn David 22 March 2006 Headingley gropes its way toward colour blindness The Guardian London Retrieved 9 October 2008 Bradford Daily Telegraph 28 May 1904 p 5 Yorkshire Post 31 January 1913 p 14 Bradford Weekly Telegraph 9 May 1913 p 15 Priestley Cup finals Bradfordcricketleague org 2011 Retrieved 14 September 2011 Priestley Cup wins Bradfordcricketleague org 2011 Retrieved 14 September 2011 JCT600 Bradford League rules page 3 Bradfordcricketleague org 2011 Retrieved 14 September 2011 JCT600 Bradford League rules page 4 Bradfordcricketleague org 2011 Retrieved 14 September 2011 JCT600 Bradford League rules page 5 Bradfordcricketleague org 2011 Retrieved 14 September 2011 Past Winners Bradfordcl com Premier League 2016 Bradfordcl play cricket com Premier League 2017 Bradfordcl play cricket com Premier League 2018 Bradfordcl play cricket com Premier League 2019 Bradfordcl play cricket com Premier League 2021 Bradfordcl play cricket com Premier League 2022 Bradfordcl play cricket com Premier League 2023 Bradfordcl play cricket com Nelson Reg 15 May 2015 Club histories Idle Bradford Cricket League Archived from the original on 14 February 2016 Retrieved 11 September 2015 Club History Undercliffe Cricket Club 2013 Retrieved 28 August 2017 External links EditOfficial website play cricket website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bradford Premier League amp oldid 1173879466, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
