Yorkshire Premier League structure 

 

During 2014 and 2015, planning was undertaken in earnest to reorganise Premier League cricket in Yorkshire, with the aim of providing a pyramid structure to enable club progression, across the county. 

 

As part of this reorganisation, the old Yorkshire League was effectively split in two, with the seven most northerly clubs and five clubs from the York & District Senior League making up Yorkshire Premier League North (YPLN); whilst the seven remaining Yorkshire League clubs, along with four clubs from the South Yorkshire Senior Cricket League (SYSCL) and Wakefield Thornes from the Central Yorkshire League, made up the Yorkshire South Premier League (YSPL). 

 

At the same time, the Bradford League merged with the Central Yorkshire League, and applied for Premier League status, to provide a pyramid structure the west of the county; and the North Yorkshire & South Durham Premier League formed Yorkshire’s fourth ‘pyramid’. 

 

All four leagues are independent and autonomous, under the overview of the Yorkshire Premier Leagues Management Board. 

 

In 2021, after the merger of the YSPL and the South Yorkshire Senior Cricket League, the Yorkshire Cricket Southern Premier League replaced the YSPL in the structure. 

 

 

The White Rose Yorkshire Champions Trophy play-offs, between the winners of each of the four Premier Leagues, were introduced to determine the overall Champions of Yorkshire. Wakefield Thornes, the first champions of the YSPL, beat Bradford League Champions Pudsey St Lawrence in the first final in Abu Dhabi to become the first Premier League Champions of Yorkshire in 2016. 

 

YSPL champions in each of its first three years, Wakefield Thornes reached the White Rose Championship Final three times in succession. Following their historic win over Pudsey St Lawrence, they lost narrowly to Hanging Heaton of the Bradford Premier League in 2017, before regaining their Yorkshire Champions title with a comfortable win over NY&SD side Great Ayton in the 2018 final at Headingley. 

 

In 2019, Sheriff Hutton Bridge of the YPLN beat Woodlands of the Bradford Premier League to take the trophy into the north of the county for the first time. In the semi-finals, Woodlands had beaten new YSPL champions Doncaster Town. 

 

The competition was suspended in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, but in the following year, Castleford became the first former Yorkshire League side to win the White Rose bowl, beating Woodlands by six runs at Headingley to become Champions of Yorkshire 2021. The week before, Woodlands had claimed a nail-biting win over inaugural YCSPL champions Appleby Frodingham. 

 

Lincolnshire sides Appleby Frodingham and Cleethorpes had been admitted to the Yorkshire League in the days when they were part of the then administrative county of Yorkshire & Humberside, and it was agreed that against this historical background, and as inaugural members of the YSPL, they would be allowed to participate in the competition should they qualify. Durham-based sides in the North Yorkshire & South Durham League would, however, not be eligible. However, after Appleby Frodingham qualified for the 2021 competition, it was decided to remove the restriction on Durham teams, and from now on the champions of the NY&SD will represent their league in the competition, irrespective of their geographical location. 

 

The draw for the 2022 semi-finals, which will be played on Saturday 10 September on the grounds of the first-named clubs, is: 

 

 

This year's final is scheduled for Sunday 18 September at Emerald Headingley. 

 

Championship play-off rules