25 Years of the NEPL

The North East Premier League (NEPL) was born out of a desire to restructure the nation's cricket at every level. Following a disastrous 1997, the ECB Chairman Lord McLaurin commissioned the "Raising the Standard" report and thus the face of English recreational cricket changed forever with the formation of Premier Leagues across the country. The NEPL got underway on 29th April 2000 with one of its stated intentions being the smoothing of the pathway from recreational and club cricket to a career in professional cricket for the very best young players of future generations. Such was the success of the NEPL there are at least a dozen players who have gone on to play test cricket for England who can trace their cricketing roots to the league. This includes Ben Stokes, Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood. Wood shares his memories of his time in the league and revisits his role in two title winning games. A further benchmark of the league can be found in the 2019 World Cup Final where no less than five players took part who had played in the NEPL. This book looks at cricket biographies of just under 250 players who have left a mark on the NEPL in the first 25 years with memories from the very best of those players who describe how they won their league titles and their memories of their team mates and opponents of the day. Those memories are supported by league tables, batting and bowling averages and authentic photographs from the relevant period of time, as well as a comprehensive weekly look at the 2024 season.