Birmingham and District Premier League

The Birmingham and District Cricket League is the oldest club cricket league in the world, formed in 1888. Arguably the strongest club competition in the country, it was also the first ECB Premier League, being designated such in 1998.

Geography

The Birmingham League traditionally covered North Worcestershire, South Staffordshire and North Warwickshire, much of which is now the conurbation of the West Midlands. Since 1998, with the introduction of the ECB Premier Leagues, the pyramid system, and feeder leagues in the four counties (Shropshire Premier Cricket League, Staffordshire Club Cricket Championship, Warwickshire Cricket League and Worcestershire County Cricket League), the catchment of the league has spread to include the whole of Worcestershire and Warwickshire, as well as a larger part of Staffordshire (North Staffordshire clubs still play in a separate competition). Herefordshire clubs, who play in the Worcestershire County Cricket League, can also be promoted into the league, and many Shropshire clubs are now also dotted throughout the league structure.

History

The Birmingham and District Cricket League is the oldest club competition in the world, beginning league matches in 1888. The Birmingham and District Cricket Association had actually formed eight years earlier in 1880, but only ran a successful, if not controversial, cup competition for those first few years.On Friday 30 November 1888, representatives from local cricket clubs gathered at the Queen's Arms Hotel, Easy Row, Birmingham and went about setting up the first ever Club Cricket League, being inspired by the success The Birmingham County Football Association had had in organising local football competition and fixtures.With some representatives needing to consult their own committees before pledging their commitment to the league, and one or two prominent local clubs not being present, it wasn't until a second meeting on Friday 14 December 1888 that the league was actually, officially formed. There were initially seven clubs who decided to trial the league format the following season. They were:
* Aston Unity
* Handsworth Wood
* Kings Heath
* Mitchells
* Salters
* Walsall
* West Bromwich Dartmouth

Those early days saw many changes in the league's club make-up:

Kings Heath moved to "The Reddings" Ground, joining with Moseley Cricket Club (and taking on that name). Another Kings Heath Club was formed later, but never became part of the Birmingham League set-up until the restructuring of Midlands Club cricket in 1998.
Salters Cricket Club who played in Roebuck Lane, West Bromwich, and originated from the Spring Works of the same name, resigned from the league after just one season.In 1890, Wednesbury Cricket Club joined the league.In 1891, Smethwick Cricket Club, who had been involved in the Birmingham and District Cricket Association Cup competition in the 1880s, entered the league.
Mitchells Cricket Club left the league between 1892 and 1896, due to some friction surrounding ineligible players, but shortly after they returned, they became Mitchells and Butlers Cricket Club when the two breweries amalgamated in 1898.In 1892, Small Heath Cricket Club joined the league and although their ground was amongst the best in the competition, the club was out of its depth in other aspects, and they resigned from the league 3 years later.In 1894, Warwickshire County Cricket Club entered the league after years of deliberation, but withdrew again in 1895 after being admitted to the County Championship.Over the next few years, the league's influence moved to the west, with Dudley Cricket Club joining the League in 1893, Stourbridge in 1894 and Kidderminster in 1895.
Handsworth Wood who had performed creditably in the league until their Browne's Green ground was acquired by developers shortly after the First World War, spent one season playing at the County Ground, Edgbaston, but when no new ground could be found the following season either, they lost a narrow motion by the league (by one vote), and Old Hill Cricket Club replaced them in 1920. The Handsworth Wood Club folded shortly afterwards, handing their cash balance over to the league benevolent fund.

The second XI competition, which would arguably become the second best standard of cricket in the region until league restructuring in 1998, had been formed in 1893.

The league was suspended for the First World War between 1914 and 1918, but continued to play through the Second World War, and the League, now comprising of 10 clubs (Aston Unity, Dudley, Kidderminster, Mitchells and Butlers, Moseley, Old Hill, Smethwick, Stourbridge, Walsall, West Bromwich Dartmouth), stayed the same until 1975.In 1975, the league expanding again as Warwickshire and Worcestershire decided the strength of the league could be utilised. Warwickshire entered a 1st and 2nd XI (basically a 1st/2nd team side and a 2nd/colts side), whilst Worcestershire only entered a 1st XI and Duport Cricket Club (A Dudley-based Furniture making company club) played their 2nd XI fixtures. Whilst Warwickshire established themselves in the competition and won it on a few occasions, Worcestershire struggled, and two years later, Duport took on their 1st XI fixtures too, as they were forced to pull out of the league.
Duport also struggled with the on-field standards, and when less support from the Works Social Club hit them, they too were forced to pull out of the competition, and were replaced by another Worcester-based side in 1982, Worcester City.Many other changes took place in the league throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and they are summarised below:

YEAR	OUTGOING CLUB	REASON	INCOMING CLUB
1977	Worcestershire	Struggled to field sides due to small County staff	Duport
1982	Duport	Works Social Club decreased funding and club struggled with the standard of cricket	Worcester City
1985	Dudley	Ground caved-in and club was forced to fold	Coventry and North Warwicks
1990	Warwickshire	Struggled to commit to League cricket with increased County 2nd XI programme	Wolverhampton
1992	Worcester City	Club folded	Stratford
1995	Mitchells and Butlers	Brewery decided to sell off ground so club folded	Barnt Green

ECB Premier League

Since being designated an ECB Premier League in 1998 (the first Premier Cricket League in the Country), many changes have occurred in the league's structure.Initially, the 12 clubs in the old Birmingham League made up the Premier division, and a First Division, Second Division East and Second Division West were made up from clubs in the old Midlands Combined Counties League, the Worcestershire League, the Warwickshire League and the Staffs League.Only one side was promoted in the first year of the structure, and that honour went to Cannock Cricket Club. Aston Unity Cricket Club, a founder member of the league, were the first ever side to be relegated.Promotion and relegation between the Premier League and the First Division was increased to two teams in the second year (1999). The movement of clubs during that time is highlighted below:

YEAR	RELEGATED CLUBS	PROMOTED CLUBS
1998	Aston Unity	Cannock
1999	Stourbridge	Harborne
"	Moseley	Halesowen
2000	Smethwick	Knowle and Dorridge
"	Harborne	Aston Unity
2001	West Bromwich Dartmouth	Himley
"	Kidderminster	Moseley
2002	Aston Unity	Shrewsbury
"	Stratford	Wellington
2003	Shrewsbury	Water Orton
"	Wolverhampton	West Bromwich Dartmouth
2004	Water Orton	Leamington
"	Cannock	Kenilworth Wardens
2005	Leamington	Shrewsbury
"	Halesowen	Kidderminster Victoria
2006	Old Hill	Shifnal
"	Shrewsbury	Walmley
2007	Coventry And North Warwickshire	Leamington
"	Wellington	Wolverhampton

2007 season

Walsall Cricket Club won the Birmingham league for the second time in a row, the second time this has happened since the Premier League was put into place in 1998. Walsall Seamer Gareth Williams has now won the Birmingham League title with three different clubs (Walsall, Barnt Green and Wellington). 2003 and 2004 winners Wellington were relegated, as were Coventry and North Warwickshire. Leamington won Division one despite having a very young side, while former heavyweights Wolverhampton are back in the top flight in 2008 for the first time since 2003. Wolverhampton have done this with another young side, opening the batting with 14 year old Anish Kapil. Water Orton and Aston Manor were the teams relegated from Division 1, Aston Manor after having achieved 3 successive promotions before 2007. Division Two was won by Attock (who field an all Asian team), followed by Dorridge who narrowly missed out in 2006. Bridgnorth and Fordhouses both went down to Division Three. Division Three was won by Shropshire side St Georges, followed by a strong Ombersley side who had a number of ex-Worcestershire pros in their side. Whitchurch could count themselves unlucky after finishing third with 326 Points, which in any other season would have surely seen them to promotion.

Four teams were relegated out of the Birmingham League and into the feeder leagues:-

Old Wulfs Tettenhall (Staffordshire)Pelsall (Staffordshire)Solihull Blossomfield (Warwickshire)Wem (Shropshire)

No Worcestershire team was relegated.

The winners of each of the feeder leagues (Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire,Worcestershire) were as follows:-

*Shropshire Premier Cricket League: Oswestry
*Staffordshire Club Cricket Championship: Lichfield
*Warwickshire Cricket League: Bablake Old Boys
*Worcestershire County Cricket League: Brockhampton

Clubs

Here is a list of Birmingham League Cricket Clubs, and the divisions their teams were in for the 2007 season:

CLUB	1st XI	2nd XI
Aston Manor	First Division	Third Division
Aston Unity	Second Division	Second Division
Attock	Second Division	Premier
Barnt Green	Premier	Premier
Berkswell	Second Division	Third Division
Bridgnorth	Second Division	First Division
Bromsgrove	First Division	Second Division
Cannock	First Division	Second Division
Coleshill	Third Division	Third Division
Coventry and North Warwicks	Premier	Premier
Dorridge	Second Division	First Division
Evesham	Second Division	Second Division
Fordhouses	Second Division	Second Division
Halesowen	First Division	First Division
Harborne	First Division	Premier
Himley	Premier	First Division
Kenilworth Wardens	Premier	First Division
Kidderminster Victoria	Premier	Premier
Kington	Third Division	Third Division
Knowle and Dorridge	Premier	Premier
Leamington Spa	First Division	Premier
Moseley	Premier	Premier
Newport	Second Division	Third Division
Old Elizabethans	Second Division	Second Division
Old Hill	First Division	First Division
Old Wulfs Tettenhall	Third Division	Third Division
Olton and West Warwickshire	Third Division	Third Division
Ombersley	Third Division	Third Division
Pelsall	Third Division	Second Division
Penn	Second Division	Second Division
Shifnal	Premier	First Division
Shrewsbury	First Division	Premier
Smethwick	Second Division	Second Division
Solihull Blossomfield	Third Division	Third Division
St. Georges	Third Division	Second Division
Stratford-Upon-Avon	First Division	First Division
Studley	Third Division	Third Division
Sutton Coldfield	First Division	First Division
Tamworth	Second Division	First Division
West Bromwich Dartmouth	Premier	First Division
Walmley	Premier	Premier
Walsall	Premier	Premier
Water Orton	First Division	First Division
Wellington	Premier	Second Division
Wem	Third Division	Third Division
Whitchurch	Third Division	Second Division
Wolverhampton	First Division	Premier
Wombourne	Third Division	Third Division

Clubs from each county

For the 2007 season, the Birmingham and District Premier League is made up of 19 Warwickshire clubs, 13 from Staffordshire, 8 from Shropshire, 7 from Worcestershire, and 1 from Herefordshire.

Championships and achievements

YEAR	1st XI	2nd XI
1889	Aston Unity	No Competition
1890	Moseley and West Bromwich Dartmouth*	No Competition
1891	Moseley	No Competition
1892	Handsworth Wood	No Competition
1893	Walsall
1894	Aston Unity
1895	Moseley	Walsall
1896	Walsall and Aston Unity*
1897	Handsworth Wood
1898	Dudley
1899	Kidderminster
1900	Aston Unity
1901	Kidderminster
1902	Handsworth Wood
1903	Handsworth Wood
1904	Moseley
1905	Dudley and Handsworth Wood*
1906	Dudley
1907	Moseley
1908	Moseley
1909	Moseley and Mitchells and Butlers*
1910	Aston Unity and Dudley*
1911	Mitchells and Butlers
1912	Walsall
1913	Dudley
1914	Mitchells and Butlers
1915-1918	First World War	First World War
1919	Stourbridge
1920	Moseley
1921	Old Hill
1922	Walsall	Old Hill
1923	Moseley	Old Hill
1924	Kidderminster
1925	Mitchells and Butlers	Old Hill and *
1926	Mitchells and Butlers
1927	Aston Unity
1928	Mitchells and Butlers
1929	Kidderminster
1930	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1931	Mitchells and Butlers	Old Hill
1932	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1933	West Bromwich Dartmouth and Walsall*
1934	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1935	Walsall	Walsall
1936	Walsall
1937	Walsall
1938	Moseley
1939	Aston Unity and Mitchells and Butlers
1940	Old Hill
1941	West Bromwich Dartmouth	Competition suspended for Second World War
1942	West Bromwich Dartmouth	Competition suspended for Second World War
1943	West Bromwich Dartmouth	Competition suspended for Second World War
1944	West Bromwich Dartmouth	Competition suspended for Second World War
1945	West Bromwich Dartmouth	Competition suspended for Second World War
1946	Kidderminster
1947	Mitchells and Butlers
1948	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1949	Aston Unity
1950	Kidderminster
1951	Smethwick
1952	Dudley
1953	West Bromwich Dartmouth	Old Hill and *
1954	Mitchells and Butlers
1955	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1956	Moseley
1957	Dudley
1958	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1959	Moseley	Walsall
1960	Old Hill	Walsall
1961	Moseley
1962	Kidderminster
1963	Moseley
1964	Moseley
1965	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1966	Kidderminster and Walsall*
1967	Moseley	Walsall
1968	Smethwick	Walsall
1969	Moseley
1970	Moseley
1971	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1972	Walsall
1973	Kidderminster and Moseley
1974	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1975	Kidderminster	Walsall
1976	Walsall
1977	Aston Unity
1978	Warwickshire
1979	Warwickshire	Walsall
1980	Walsall	Walsall and *
1981	Dudley	Walsall and *
1982	Walsall
1983	Old Hill
1984	Moseley	Old Hill
1985	Moseley
1986	Walsall
1987	Stourbridge
1988	Warwickshire	Old Hill
1989	Stourbridge	Walsall
1990	Wolverhampton
1991	Coventry and North Warwicks	Walsall and Old Hill*
1992	Walsall	Walsall
1993	West Bromwich Dartmouth	Walsall
1994	Walsall	Old Hill
1995	Barnt Green
1996	Walsall	Wolverhampton
1997	Barnt Green	Moseley
1998	Wolverhampton	West Bromwich Dartmouth
1999	Walsall	Moseley
2000	Cannock	Walsall
2001	Stratford	Cannock
2002	Halesowen	Moseley
2003	Wellington	Harborne
2004	Wellington	Kidderminster Victoria
2005	Barnt Green	Harborne
2006	Walsall	Leamington Spa
2007	Walsall	Moseley

* * - denotes a shared title

1st XI Division 1/Premier Division winners

Of those clubs still playing, Moseley have won the 1st XI Division 1/Premier Division title outright 18 times and have had 3 shared titles, Walsall 17 & 3 shared, West Bromwich Dartmouth 16 outright & 2 shared, Kidderminster 8 & 2 shared, Aston Unity 6 & 3 shared, Old Hill 4, Barnt Green 3, Stourbridge 3, Smethwick 2, Wellington 2, Wolverhampton 2, Cannock 1, Coventry & North Warwickshire 1, Halesowen 1, Stratford-upon-Avon 1.

Of those clubs that have folded or no longer play in club competitions (ie. Warwickshire), Mitchells & Butlers won the title outright 8 times and had 2 shared titles, Dudley 6 times outright with 2 shared, Handsworth Wood 4 & 1 shared, & Warwickshire 3.

1000 runs in a season

Although there have been many notable feats throughout the league's history, one of the most difficult achievements for a batsman is to score over 1000 runs in a club league season. Only 13 players have ever managed it in the Birmingham League:

PLAYER	CLUB	YEAR	RUNS
Alan Townsend	Mitchells and Butlers	1961	1106
Alan Townsend	Mitchells and Butlers	1970	1008
Colin Price	Aston Unity	1975	1093
Graham Yallop	Walsall	1975	1152
Doug Slade	West Bromwich Dartmouth	1978	1407
Graeme Hick	Kidderminster	1984	1234
Ian Stokes	Moseley	1984	1236
Steve Dean	Walsall	1993	1166
Jonathan Wright	Old Hill	1993	1006
Andy Flower	West Bromwich Dartmouth	1995	1018
Grant Flower	Barnt Green	1995	1024
Deon Jordaan	Wolverhampton	1996	1072
R. Tape	Moseley	1999	1005

National Knockout

The Birmingham and District Cricket League's strength as a competition has been proven throughout the years, by the presence of its clubs in the latter stages of the ECB National Club Cricket Championship (a cup Competition for all Clubs in the UK).Here are a list of clubs in the league structure who have won or been runners-up in the competition:

CLUB	YEAR	OPPONENTS	WINNERS/RUNNERS-UP
Wolverhampton	1973	The Mote (Kent)	Winners
Moseley	1980	Gosport Borough (Hampshire)	Winners
Shrewsbury	1983	Reigate and St.Leonard's Priory (Sussex)	Winners
Old Hill	1984	Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire)	Winners
Old Hill	1985	Reading (Berkshire)	Winners
Stourbridge	1986	Weston-super-Mare (Somerset)	Winners
Old Hill	1987	Teddington (Middlesex)	Winners
Wolverhampton	1988	Enfield (Middlesex)	Runners-up
Old Hill	1989	Teddington (Middlesex)	Runners-up(replay)
Walsall	1991	Teddington (Middlesex)	Runners-up
Old Hill	1993	West Bromwich Dartmouth (Staffordshire)	Winners
West Bromwich Dartmouth	1993	Old Hill (Staffordshire)	Runners-up
Walsall	1996	Chorley (Lancashire)	Winners
Wolverhampton	1999	Teddington (Middlesex)	Winners
Barnt Green	2002	Saffron Walden (Essex)	Runners-up
Barnt Green	2005	Horsham (Sussex)	Runners-up

Famous players

Many well known international players have played in the Birmingham League over the years:

England Players

Overseas players

Australia
* Greg Matthews
* Tom Moody
* Simon O'Donnell
* Chris Rogers
* Steve Waugh
* Graham YallopSouth Africa
* Peter Carlstein
* Allan Donald
* Clive Eksteen
* JP Fellows-Smith
* Anthonie Ferreira (Unofficial)
* Claude Henderson
* Brian McMillan
* Hugh Page (Unofficial)
* Sid Pegler
* Roy Pienaar (Unofficial)
* Dewald Pretorius
* Mike Rindel
* Herbie Taylor
* Thami TsolekileWest Indies
* Colin Croft
* George Headley
* Ron Headley
* Vanburn Holder
* Alvin Kallicharan
* Collis King
* Lincoln Roberts
* Alfred Scott
* Phil Simmons
* Dwayne Smith
* Alf ValentineNew Zealand
* Ian Butler
* Stewie Dempster
* Martin Donnelly
* Jamie How
* Warren Lees
* Bill Merritt
* Michael Papps
* John Parker
* Dipak Patel
* Barry Sinclair
* Don Taylor
* Glenn Turner
* Roger TwoseIndia
* Dilip Doshi
* Amar SinghPakistan
* Imran Khan
* Mushtaq Mohammad
* Sadiq Mohammad
* Shahid Saeed
* Shoaib Akhtar
* Wasim AkramSri Lanka
* Somachandra de Silva
* Champaka RamanayakeZimbabwe
* Dion Ebrahim
* Andy Flower
* Grant Flower
* Travis Friend
* David Houghton
* Douglas Marillier
* Gus Mackay
* Mpumelelo "Pommie" Mbangwa
* Waddington Mwayenga
* Paul Strang
* Tatenda Taibu
* Mark Vermeulen
* Dirk Viljoen

External links

* [http://www.birminghamleague.org Official League Website]