Cricket might have the highest number of formats for any international sport. Our guide breakdown all the major competitions & divisions in the UK right now.
Major UK Cricket Competitions/Divisions
Cricket is a sport that has been around for a long time. With its roots in 16th-century England, the sport has since grown and expanded to accommodate not just many different countries, but also a ton of different playing levels.
Understanding what exactly these divisions are isn’t just important for audiences, who may want to find cricket matches in or from their local area. For aspiring players, it’s also a clear indication of what national level you are performing at, and the ladder you’ll climb to get there.
And with several of these major competitions coming up soon (hello there 2024 Ashes, looming over the horizon), there isn’t a better time to learn about them.
So, in this guide, we will outline every major competition of cricket that you’ll find in the UK, alongside the major divisions that compete in them.
County Championships
Where better to start off than at the very top?
The County Championships is one of the most established cricket contests in the UK, being established in 1890, and representing the height of first-class domestic cricket in the England and Wales Cricket Board, or ECB for short.
(Why is it known as the ECB and not the EWCB? That’s a story for another time.)
The competition includes eighteen clubs that are from and named after historic counties, with seventeen being from England, and one from Wales.
County Championships Divisions
The County Championships are broken up into two main divisions:
- Division 1 (consisting of the top 10 teams)
- Division 2 (consisting of the 8 remaining teams)
The rules for the County Championships are simple: the county team in the 1st division with the most points by the end of the season is given the title.
Points in this system are earned by scoring runs for batters, or taking wickets for bowlers. These act as bonus points alongside the final result of a match, with a team getting a point based on the following results:
- Win: 16 points + bonus points obtained in-match
- Tie: 8 points + bonus points obtained in-match
- Draw: 5 points + bonus obtained in-match
- Loss: Bonus points obtained in-match
Teams can also be deducted points for a variety of reasons, such as fielding an unregistered player in a match, slow over rates in a match, or poor pitching.
Currently, the county team with the most outright wins is Yorkshire, with 32 wins and 1 drawers since 1890.
(As a Yorkshire-based company, we here at Kitlocker.com can’t help but shed a prideful tear at results like that!)
Promotion & Relegation
To allow teams from the different divisions to fall or rise, County Championships use a two-up, two-down system.
At the end of the season, the two best-performing teams in Division 2 are promoted, while the 2 worst-performing teams in Division 1 are relegated.
One-Day Cup (UK)
Anyone with a shred of interest in international cricket knowledge will probably have heard of One-Day Cups. These international games are some of the most important games between recognized cricket teams that you’ll find in the cricket world, outside the World Cup.
The ECB has its regional variant of this cup, which originally spawned out of the ECB’s previous tournaments, such as the ECB 40. This was done as a way of bringing the competition standards in line with international One-Day cups, by using a 50-over format instead of the previous 40-over.
This national version of the international sport is a great stage for the first-class recognized clubs to foster up-and-coming talent, especially for preparing for qualifying matches for One-Day International Cups, and even the Cricket World Cup.
In short, if you want to see the cricket stars of tomorrow, you check out the One-Day Cup games!
One-Day Cup Divisions
The 18 first-class county teams are separated into 2 divisions. This used to be based on geography, with Northern and Southern groups respectively. However, as of 2023, these groups are decided via draw.
The top 3 teams of each division will then progress to the knockout stage, where a winner is eventually decided.
T20 Blast/Vitality Blast
Twenty20, or T20, cricket has been around for a while now, being established in 2003, and was the ECB’s response to the shrinking crowds and sponsorship offers from the previous Benson & Hedges Cup.
(Fun side note, the T20 Cup is celebrating its 21th birthday in 2024. It's old enough to legally drive lorries now!)
The name of the contest comes from the 20-over format that this newer game uses, keeping the matches relatively short and engaging
The T20 Blast Cup (also currently called the Vitality Blast Cup thanks to sponsorships) is the highest-level T20 cup in England and Wales, with our first-class 18 counties competing in this cup.
Considering that the T20 format has since been adopted by many cricket-loving countries across the world, it’s fair to say that the T20 Blast Cup has been instrumental in creating faster-paced and more engaging cricket games for new fans.
T20 Blast Divisions & Format
The formatting for the T20 Blast Cup is separated based on geography. While it has generally been divided into two divisions, the North and South Groups, some years will also include a third Central Division. This can change depending on the format of the year.
At the end of the group stage, the top four best teams with then compete against each other in the knockout stage. In years with 3 divisions, the top 2 teams of each league progress, while the top 2 3rd best teams compete in a playoff stage.
Minor County Cricket/NCCA
The first 3 competitions that we’ve covered here have all focused on the 18 first-class counties. Now, let’s have a look at some cricket tournaments that aren’t about the big guys!
The Minor County Cricket clubs, now the National Counties Cricket Association (or the NCCA if you value your time) represent the many other county cricket clubs that don’t have that prestigious first-class title.
This isn’t so much a hard tournament bracket, as it is an association for many of the less famous cricket clubs to demonstrate their skills at a professional level. Because make no mistake, these are still professional teams, with T20 and one-day knockout trophy cups of their own.
The National Counties Cricket Association is a platform for many smaller or lesser-known county cricket clubs to show their skills, and well-performing minor county clubs can become first-class clubs, if they are recognised by the ECB.
Differences Between Minor & First-Class County Clubs
So, besides prestige, what are the actual differences between first class and NCCA?
- Minor Cricket Matches tend to run over slightly shorter periods, one to three days, instead of the first-class club’s four days.
- Teams from minor cricket clubs will get their talent from local areas, whereas the first-class cricket clubs will often get to pick the best talent in a much larger area.
- Players from minor cricket clubs will generally be less experienced than their first-class counterparts (although this isn’t a universal rule).
The Hundred
The most recent tournament on this list, the first Hundred Game was held in July 2021. It was designed as a way for new audiences to better get into cricket, as well as to better align with several other countries’ cricket brackets, such as the Indian Premier League.
With such a different approach to cricket, as well as first-class teams benign included alongside non-traditional cricket club organisations, it’s had a… mixed response, from classic cricket enthusiasts.
Still, it has certainly shaken up the formula, in more ways than one.
The Hundreds Format
8 city-based cricket teams compete throughout a season, usually taking place during the British summer holidays, for maximum coverage and audience attraction.
Both men's and women's matches will take place at the same grounds and on the same day, with 32 total matches taking place. This will include four away matches and four home ones and against every other team, including a bonus match against nearby regional rivals.
The team with the highest score automatically qualifies for the final, with second and third place competing in a semi-final match to determine who gets to go to the final.
Say what you like about this particular bracket, but it’s certainly easy to wrap your head around.
Women’s Cricket Divisions
Cricket has had a long history when it comes to allowing women to play, with records of women’s cricket matches and competitions stretching back to the 1700s. So naturally, there is a long precedent of women’s divisions in cricket today!
Like with the Minor County Clubs, there are a plethora of different leagues and tournaments that include women’s cricket today. Alongside the national teams, you have Test matches, One-Day International cups, Hundreds, T20 leagues, and plenty more.
Women’s County Championships
The Women’s County Championships has changed a lot over the years. The current highest level of professional women’s cricket is the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
The 8 teams in this competition are comprised of the county partners that make up each region and cover England and East Wales.
Format
The teams are separated into North and South groups, like with T20 Blast matches, using a double round-robin format. This allows every team in the bracket to face each other. Teams receive 4 points for a win, with a bonus point being given if the winning team has a run rate that is over 1.25 times better than their opponent.
Once a winner in each bracket has been decided, they then compete in the final match. Depending on the number of teams participating, the 2nd best-performing teams of each division will also play against each other in a playoff, to determine 3rd and 4th place, respectively.
Women’s T20 Cup
As we already mentioned, the T20 Cups were originally conceived as a way of driving up new interest in cricket, by keeping the format shot to just 20 overs.
Considering that Women’s cricket was already well established by the late 1990s, it should come as no surprise that the first wave of T20s also included women’s divisions.
Format
If you’ve already seen our section on this format, you’ll already know the gist of this play style.
The main teams make up 2 divisions that compete against each other in 20-over matches. Once the first round of matches is finished, the top-scoring teams of each group will face off against each other in the finals.
Simple, effective, and easy to understand. No wonder the T20s have got so popular!
Women’s Hundred
We’ve just covered the Hundreds cricket competition, so we’ll try and keep this one brief.
Launched in 2021, this modern cricket competition was originally pitched as a way of attracting newcomers to the sport, with its simple-to-understand hundred-ball format.
Format
The women’s 8 city teams, like the men’s division, will all face each other on the same days, and on the same grounds.
First place will automatically enter the final, leaving second and third place to face each other in an Eliminator round (which just sounds so much cooler than ‘semi-finals’).
ECB Premier League Divisions
These next divisions are all the recognised cricket leagues that are supported by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Each Division includes the local and regional cricket clubs that are in the top divisions of amateur cricket.
Don’t let the fact that this is a non-first-class division fool you. While this is still technically ‘amateur’ cricket, the ECB’s premier leagues represent the highest levels of skill at recreational cricket in Wales and England.
It’s not just a place where highly skilled amateurs can be picked from these teams for professional play. It’s a place where first-class cricket clubs can establish real grassroots connections with their local teams and areas.
And if you’ve followed us here at Kitlocker for any length of time, you know we’re all about that grassroots connection!
In short, if it wasn’t for the Premier League divisions, there’s a good chance that modern cricket would be nowhere near as popular and loved as it is today!
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it!
As you can see, the sheer variety of cricket competitions and divisions is dizzying at this point, with formats and tournaments for pretty much every kind of play style.
We didn’t even have a chance to talk about the more niche experimental competitions, such as the 10-overs or 3TeamCricket.
(Which, yes, is a thing!)
If nothing else, it just goes to show you how versatile of a sport cricket actually is. Even after 350 years o play, it’s still finding new ways to wow crowds, and get newcomers excited in this age-old game!
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