Worcestershire County Cricket League

The Worcestershire County Cricket League was created in 1999 as part of the new 'pyramid system' in English club cricket, and acts as a feeder league to the Birmingham and District Premier League. It was formed mainly as a merger between the old Worcestershire Clubs' League and the Autobag/Plumb Centre League. Other clubs came from the Midland Combined Counties League, the 3D Cricket PLJ League, and in the case of Herefordshire sides, the Marches Cricket League and the Willowsticks Three Counties Cricket League.

There is promotion and relegation and most divisions of the league operate on a two up/two down basis, although the feeder league status means that more than two sides may be relegated from the Premier Division, with knock-on effects on other divisions, if one or more Worcestershire (also Herefordshire in the past) side is relegated from Birmingham League Division 1. Other exceptions to this are in the Premier Division (where the winner is only promoted to the Birmingham and District Premier League if they finish in the top 2 out of the 4 feeder league champions, after a round-robin competition between the 4 sides at the end of the season).

In the three regionalised Division 9 leagues the winners of each league go up, with the bottom three sides in Division 8 being relegated. The top two teams in each of the four regionalised Division 10s go into end of season playoffs, with the top 2 sides being promoted to Division 9 (with no relegation from Division 10).

Winners of Division 1 of the Worcestershire County Cricket League, who have been promoted to the Birmingham and District Premier League, since 1999 are:

• 1999: Hagley
• 2000: Redditch
• 2001: Kington
• 2002: Old Elizabethans
• 2003: Evesham
• 2004: Pershore
• 2005: Ombersley
• 2006: Kington
• 2007: Brockhampton
• 2008: Eastnor
• 2009: Pershore
• 2010: Barnards Green
• 2011: Stourbridge
• 2012: Worcester Nomads
• 2013: Astwood Bank
• 2014: Worcester
• 2015: Pershore
• 2016: Worcester Nomads
• 2017: Redditch
• 2018: Bewdley* (no promotion)
• 2019: Astwood Bank (not promoted after finishing 3rd in Birmingham League playoffs)
• 2020: Pershore** (no promotion, won a shortened season played in a regional format followed by playoffs)
• 2021: Stourbridge (not promoted after finishing 3rd in Birmingham League playoffs)

In 2018 there was no promotion from any of the four county feeder leagues due to the restructuring of the Birmingham & District Premier League.

In 2020 there was no promotion from any of the four county feeder leagues due to the shortened season resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

From 2019 onwards the winners of the Worcestershire County League's new Premier Division went into a round-robin playoff at the end of the season with the winners of the Shropshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire leagues, with the top two sides out of the four being promoted to the Birmingham & District Premier League.

From 1999 until 2018 from Division 1 down to Division 4 there were separate 2nd XI Divisions, with the 4th XI of those sides whose 3rd XIs played in the league competing against other clubs' 2nd XIs. From 2006, Division 1 and 2 2nd XIs were promoted and relegated independently of their 1st XIs (and 4th XIs could be promoted or relegated independently of their 3rd XIs), from 2007 the same applied to Division 3, and from 2014 this also applied to Division 4. Clubs could only be promoted from Division 5 if they were able to field two XIs in the following season, and there was a space available in Division 4.

At the end of the 2018 season the league absorbed six 1st XIs that were relegated out of the Birmingham and District Premier League due to the league downsizing from 48 to 24 clubs, as well as 14 2nd XIs, due to the B&DPCL no longer holding a 2nd XI competition from 2019 onwards. The 1st XIs to be relegated were Astwood Bank, Old Elizabethans, Old Hill, Pershore, Redditch and Stourbridge. The 2nd XIs that were absorbed by the WCL were Astwood Bank, Barnards Green, Barnt Green, Brockhampton, Bromsgrove, Halesowen, Himley, Kidderminster, Old Elizabethans, Old Hill, Ombersley, Pershore, Redditch, and Stourbridge.

For the 2019 season the league adopted a 'linear structure' so that 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th XIs would all be part of the same 'ladder system', and theoretically a 2nd, 3rd or 4th XI etc. would be able to be promoted as far as the new WCL Premier Division (one division below the Birmingham and District Premier League).

For the 2021 season several of the league's lower divisions were regionalised, so that the top 8 divisions (Premier to Division 7) remained county wide, but Divisions 8 and 9 were regionalised into North, South, East and West divisions. For the 2022 season a county wide Division 8 was added, with three regional divisions in Division 9 and four regional divisions in the new Division 10.

For 2022 the Worcestershire County Cricket League will be made up of the following divisions and clubs:

83 First-Class and List A cricketers have played in the Worcestershire County Cricket League, including 17 internationals:

• Official League Website