Worcestershire County Cricket League
The Worcestershire County Cricket League (WCL) is an English club cricket league, and consists of club teams from Worcestershire, Herefordshire, and several other clubs from bordering counties.
History
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 Division 1, with knock-on effects on other divisions, if more than one Worcestershire or Herefordshire side is relegated from Birmingham League Division 3. Other exceptions to this are in Division 1 (where only the winner is promoted to the Birmingham and District Premier League), and Division 5 (no relegation). Clubs can only be promoted from Division 6 if they are able to field two XIs in the following season, and there is a space available in Division 5.
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
Divisional structure
For 2016 the Worcestershire County Cricket League is made up of the following divisions and clubs:
Division 1
- Belbroughton
- Bewdley
- Burghill, Tillington & Weobley
- Colwall
- Cookley
- Droitwich Spa
- Hagley
- Oldswinford & Stourbridge Social
- Pedmore
- Stourport-on-Severn
- Worcester
- Worcester Nomads
Division 2
- Alvechurch & Hopwood
- Bredon
- Bromyard
- Chaddesley Corbett
- Coombs Wood
- Enville
- Evesham
- Feckenham
- Lye
- Redditch
- Worcester Dominies & Guild
- Wormelow
Division 3
- Avoncroft
- Barnards Green 3rd XI
- Bartestree & Lugwardine
- Cleobury Mortimer
- Harborne 3rd XI
- Himbleton
- Kempsey
- Malvern
- Netherton
- Old Vigornians
- Ross on Wye
- Rushwick
Division 4
- Alveley
- Astwood Bank 3rd XI
- Bromsgrove 3rd XI
- Claverley
- Five Ways Old Edwardians
- Halesowen 3rd XI
- Hanley Castle & Upton
- Himley 3rd XI
- Kidderminster Victoria 3rd XI
- Martley
- Oldswinford & Stourbridge Social 3rd XI
- Stourport-on-Severn 3rd XI
Division 5
- Barnt Green 3rd XI
- Droitwich Spa 3rd XI
- Enville 3rd XI
- Hallow
- Old Elizabethans 3rd XI
- Old Hill 3rd XI
- Redditch 3rd XI
- Stourbridge 3rd XI
- Tenbury Wells
- West Malvern
From Division 1 down to Division 5, there are also separate 2nd XI Divisions, with the 4th XI of those sides above whose 3rd XIs play 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.
Division 1 – 2nd XI
- Belbroughton
- Bewdley
- Colwall
- Coombs Wood
- Evesham
- Hagley
- Netherton
- Pedmore
- Redditch
- Stourport-on-Severn
- Worcester
- Worcester Nomads
Division 2 – 2nd XI
- Avoncroft
- Bromyard
- Burghill, Tillington & Weobley
- Cookley
- Droitwich Spa
- Enville
- Feckenham
- Harborne 4th XI
- Lye
- Oldswinford & Stourbridge Social
- Rushwick
- Wormelow
Division 3 – 2nd XI
- Alvechurch & Hopwood
- Alveley
- Bartestree & Lugwardine
- Bredon
- Bromsgrove 4th XI
- Chaddesley Corbett
- Claverley
- Five Ways Old Edwardians
- Kempsey
- Kidderminster Victoria 4th XI
- Old Vigornians
- Worcester Dominies & Guild
Division 4 – 2nd XI
- Astwood Bank 4th XI
- Barnards Green 4th XI
- Cleobury Mortimer
- Halesowen 4th XI
- Hanley Castle & Upton
- Himbleton
- Himley 4th XI
- Malvern
- Martley
- Oldswinford & Stourbridge Social 4th XI
- Ross-on-Wye
- Stourport-on-Severn 4th XI
Division 5 – 2nd XI
- Barnt Green 4th XI
- Droitwich Spa 4th XI
- Enville 4th XI
- Hallow
- Old Elizabethans 4th XI
- Old Hill 4th XI
- Redditch 4th XI
- Stourbridge 4th XI
- Tenbury Wells
- West Malvern
Division 6
- Birlingham
- Cutnall Green
- Hagley 3rd XI
- Harborne 5th XI
- Harvington
- Highley
- Ombersley 3rd XI
- Pershore 3rd XI
- Romsley & Hunnington
- Worcester Nomads 3rd XI
Division 7 North
- Belbroughton 3rd XI
- Cookley 3rd XI
- Coombs Wood 3rd XI
- Five Ways OId Edwardians 3rd XI
- Harborne 6th XI
- Netherton 3rd XI
- Pedmore 3rd XI
- Romsley & Hunnington 2nd XI
- Stone
Division 7 South
- Bartestree & Lugwardine 3rd XI
- Bewdley 3rd XI
- Bredon 3rd XI
- Bromyard 3rd XI
- Evesham 3rd XI
- Kidderminster Victoria 5th XI
- Ombersley Taverners
- Worcester 3rd XI
Clubs from different counties
62 different clubs have sides in the league. As well as 48 Worcestershire clubs, there are 6 clubs from Herefordshire (Bartestree & Lugwardine, Bromyard, Burghill, Tillington & Weobley, Colwall, Ross-on-Wye, Wormelow), 4 from Shropshire (Alveley, Claverley, Cleobury Mortimer, Highley), 3 from Staffordshire (Enville, Himley, Old Hill), and 1 from Warwickshire (Harborne) in the league.
Famous players
56 current or ex-first-class cricketers have played in the Worcestershire County Cricket League in its short history, including 12 internationals:
Internationals, and club represented
England
- Steve Davies Victoria & Blakeley Hall (later merged with Kidderminster to form Kidderminster Victoria CC)
- Phil Newport Worcester Nomads
- Neal Radford Evesham
New Zealand
- Mark Craig Coombs Wood
- Daniel Flynn Barnards Green
West Indies
- Andre Russell Barnards Green
Pakistan
- Humayun Farhat Stourbridge
- Imran Farhat Stourbridge
- Abdur Rauf Brockhampton
Sri Lanka
- Dinusha Fernando Bromyard
- Chamila Gamage also known as Chamila Gamage Lakshitha, Alvechurch & Hopwood
- Dharshana Gamage Kington
Other First class players, and club(s) represented
England
- Steve Adshead Astwood Bank
- Duncan Catterall Ombersley
- Nigel Cowley Himbleton
- Ben Cox Belbroughton
- Phil Harris Barnards Green
- Chris Harwood Colwall
- Brett D'Oliveira Worcester Dominies & Guild
- Damian D'Oliveira Ombersley
- Alex Milton Worcester Nomads
- Liam O'Driscoll Worcester Nomads
- Matthew Pardoe Belbroughton
- Nitesh Patel Stourbridge
- Ben Stebbings Kington
- William Thomas Ombersley
- Josh Tongue Bromyard
- Steve Watkins Wormelow
Australia
- Michael Jeh Luctonians
- Craig Jones Kington
- Angus Robson Worcester Nomads
South Africa
- Andre (Leon) Botha Pershore
- Wesley Euley Droitwich Spa
- Calvin Flowers Ombersley
- Lundi Mbane Bromyard
- Dillon Stanley Worcester Nomads
West Indies
- Sergio Fedee Stourbridge
- Mali Richards Stourbridge
Namibia
- Xander Pitchers Worcester
New Zealand
- Jonothon Boult Barnards Green, Bewdley, Droitwich Spa
India
- Neeraj Chawla Coombs Wood
- Sachin Khartade Worcester Nomads
- Shashi Ranjan Alvechurch & Hopwood
- Gagandeep Singh Redditch
Pakistan
- Ahmed Jamal Bromyard
- Atiq-ur-Rehman Eastnor
- Hamza Nadeem Stourbridge
- Khalid Mahmood Redditch
- Mahmood Malik Brockhampton
- Mohammad Ali Brockhampton
- Zahid Saeed Ombersley, Bromyard
Sri Lanka
- Lakshan Rodrigo Bromyard
Zimbabwe
- Clive Chadhani Worcester, Old Elizabethans 3rd XI
- Innocent Kaia Worcester Nomads
- Leon Soma Droitwich Spa
- Jason Young Barnards Green