Cookie Privacy Preferences

We utilize essential cookies to ensure our website operates effectively and remains secure. Additionally, we'd like to request your permission to use optional cookies. These are intended to enhance your browsing experience by offering personalized content, displaying advertisements that are relevant to you, and helping us to further refine our website.

Choose "Accept all cookies" to agree to the use of both essential and optional cookies. Alternatively, select "Let me see" to customize your preferences.

 
 
 
new banner header white.jpg

The Greater Manchester Cricket League | Est 2016 | an accredited ECB Premier League

Greater Manchester Cricket League

Mobile

Greater Manchester Cricket League

Tablet

WELCOME TO GMCL FOR YOUR MOBILE

Saturday & Sunday Competitions Information

 

GMCL COMPETITION INFORMATION

Team Registration for GMCL Competition

Annual Registration

GMCL requires clubs wishing to compete in our competition to register their teams every year by 31st October..

  • This allows clubs to make changes each year to account for fluctuations in playing numbers and playing strength. 
  • A registration form must be completed even if there are changes to last season’s entry. 
  • All details of all teams must be entered on the form by 31st October. 
  • Teams not entered by 31st October will not be given a place in the competition. 
  • The link to the form is at the end of this page.

Player Registration

It is important to remember that you should only register teams for which you have sufficient eligible players. There is no penalty for withdrawing a team before the deadline but penalties will be applied for withdrawals after the deadline when fixtures are being prepared or have been prepared.

  • You cannot use players who play for any other club in GMCL or who play in any other league, unless there is a transfer between clubs..
  • There are restrictions on who can play in 2nd XIs and below and for Sunday teams, you should review the rules to ensure your players qualify.
  • Ineligible players and match forfeits will lead to penalties.

Adding teams to GMCL competitions

Adding Teams - New Clubs

New clubs who wish to join GMCL should e-mail details of the club (ground, history, number of teams etc) to cricketdirector@gtrmcrcricket.co.uk to request membership.

Application should be made in accordance with league deadlines - See Rules  

More information is shown below in the Saturday or Sunday competition details.

Adding Teams to the Saturday Competition

Saturday Teams can be added only where there are vacancies arising, for 2026 there are vacancies.

  1. If you wish to add a Saturday team, please contact cricketdirector@gtrmcrcricket.co.uk to find out if there are any vacancies.
  2. If a league or a group of teams wish to join then we are able to add extra divisions, please contact cricketdirector@gtrmcrcricket.co.uk to discuss the process.
    1. It is not necessary to have 12 teams to join as we receive other applications annually.
  3. If there are clubs wishing to join the saturday competitions and there are vacancies or the addition can create vacancies then places will be allocated in the following order of priority:
    1. New Group of clubs requiring an additional division
    2. Member Clubs with a GMCL Saturday 1st XI wishing to add a Saturday 2nd XI
    3. Member Clubs with 1st & 2nd XIs playing in GMCL Saturday Competition wishing to add a Saturday 3rd XI
    4. Member Clubs with only a GMCL Sunday team wishing to add a Saturday team.
    5. New Clubs transferring from another senior league with their own or long term leased ground, having met transfer requirements in the league rules 1.4.2
      1. For clubs with their own ground and facilities wishing to join the league and enter their 1st XI in GMCL Saturday competition and be placed on merit of their current standard they must apply to the league before the season prior to the season they wish to join, e.g. for joining in 2028, application must be made by 31 Mar 2027. This ensures that all requirements of an application and withdrawal from previous competition are met. Please contact cricketdirector@gtrmcrcricket.co.uk 
      2. For clubs wishing to join the Saturday competition and happy to take a placement based on any available places they may register by 31st October for the following season but they must have a confirmed ground in writing, available on request at the time of their application.
    6. New Clubs formed to join our competition with a confirmed ground meeting GMCL requirements see the full details in the league rules 1.4.2

Adding teams to the Sunday Competition

Sunday teams can always be added in the registration period 1st October to 31st October, there is no requirement to wait for a vacancy but clubs must meet league standard on ground and organisation. A ground agreement must be in place before a registration can be accepted.

For new clubs wishing to place a team in our Sunday competition whilst remaining in another Saturday league, application can be made on the form by 31st October

Withdrawing teams from GMCL competition

  1. Teams can be withdrawn for the next season, before the registration deadline on 31st October, without penalty.
  2. Any team withdrawn after the registration deadline when fixtures are in development or completed will attract a financial penalty.

Placement of teams

  1. All continuing teams will be placed dependent on their finishing position (after any penalties) in the previous season unless they request demotion due to loss of players.
  2. New Teams will be placed depending on where there are vacancies but no higher than their expected standard and no higher than other teams from the same club..
  3. Where places are made available due to team withdrawals this may mean clubs will be moved up the divisions and priority for this will be to member clubs based on the previous seasons final positions.

Saturday Competition

Saturday Season Dates

  • 2026 - 22 Saturdays commencing 18 April 2026 and running to 12 September 2026
  • 2027 - 22 Saturdays commencing 17 April 2027 and running to 11 September 2027
  • 2028 - 22 Saturdays commencing 22 April 2028 and running to 16 September 2028
  • 2029 - 22 Saturdays commencing 21 April 2029 and running to 15 September 2029
  • 2030 - 22 Saturdays commencing 19 April 2030 and running to 13 September 2030
  • 2031 - 22 Saturdays commencing 18 April 2031 and running to 12 September 2031
  • 2032 - 22 Saturdays commencing 23 April 2032 and running to 17 September 2032
  • 2033 - 22 Saturdays commencing 22 April 2033 and running to 16 September 2033
  • 2034 - 22 Saturdays commencing 21 April 2034 and running to 15 September 2034
  • 2035 - 22 Saturdays commencing 20 April 2035 and running to 14 September 2035
  • 2036 - 22 Saturdays commencing 18 April 2036 and running to 12 September 2036
  • 2037 - 22 Saturdays commencing 17 April 2037 and running to 11 September 2037
  • 2038 - 22 Saturdays commencing 23 April 2038 and running to 17 September 2038

Club Requirements

Clubs entering the Saturday competition sign up to have their ground available every Saturday for their Saturday Teams within those 22 match days and when the divisions consist of 12 teams then there will be a fixture either home or away on every Saturday. Where the club has two Saturday teams then there will be a home fixture and an away fixture on every Saturday of the season. 

Exemptions will only be given as follows

  1. Pre-existing long standing major fund raising events at grounds which mean the ground is unavailable, and has been on a given weekend for a number of years.
    1. In order to gain an exemption clubs must notify the details of the event and the date of the event for the following season on the annual registration form by 31st October and the league fixtures will try to allocate a second XI fixture on that day (if a saturday) or no home fixture (if only one saturday team or a sunday team).
    2. No exemptions will be granted for clubhouse or ground unavailability due to private hire of the facilities or club events or unavailability of players.
  2. If time critical major ground works are planned at season end, which require the ground not to be used, you must make the league officials aware on the team registration document by 31st October
  3. Any new application for a major event at the ground within those dates must be made to the Cricket Director of GMCL - cricketdirector@gtrmcrcricket.co.uk 

Irrespective of the reason of ground unavailability, ALL matches must be played at an alternative venue and played on the same day as the planned fixture. Failure will lead to a forfeit, penalty points and a financial penalty in accordance with league penalty regulations.

Saturday Divisions

Saturday Structure

12 divisions of 12 teams each playing each other home and away on 22 consecutive Saturdays

There are 9 tiers in the Saturday competition

  1. Robert Hinchliffe Premier League
  2. GMCL Premier League 2
  3. GMCL Championship
  4. GMCL Division 1
  5. GMCL Division 2
  6. GMCL Division 3
  7. GMCL Division 4
  8. GMCL Divisions 5 East & 5 West
  9. GMCL Divisions 6 East & 6 North & West & 6 South & Central

Tiers 1 to 7 have a single division, Tier 8 has two divisions, Tier 9 has 3 divisions. 

Teams in tiers 8 & 9 are placed on geography by location of their home ground each season. All regionalised divisions are grouped by area, it is not possible to create divisions where everyone only plays their nearest opponents.  

Saturday Promotion & Relegation

Robert Hinchliffe Premier League - 3 teams will be relegated at the end of the season

Tiers 2 to 6 - 3 teams will be promoted and 3 teams will be relegated

Tier 7 - 3 teams will be promoted and 4 teams will be relegated

Tier 8 - 2 teams will be promoted from each division and 3 teams will be relegated from each

Tier 9 - 2 teams will be promoted from each division

Restrictions to Saturday Promotion & Relegation

GMCL operates a one club policy where players are interchangeable between teams

Therefore no 2nd XI may play at the same level or above the 1st XI, no Saturday 3rd XI may play at the same level or above the 2nd XI

  1. Where teams from the same club are both in Tier 9 then the teams will be placed in separate divisions of the Tier
  2. Where a 1st XI is relegated to a Tier where the 2nd XI team is playing then both teams will be relegated
  3. Where a 2nd XI is in the promotion places to a Tier where the 1st XI play then the 2nd XI will not be promoted and the next highest team will be promoted from the division

Saturday - Requesting placement in a lower division

Should your club currently hold a place in the Saturday competition higher than you feel able to compete in for the following season due to changes at the club or a loss of players, you can request a move down the pyramid without a penalty as long as this is done at the time of registration for the next season; changes made later that require changes to the calculated fixtures may attract a financial penalty.

In the first instance please provide details on the team registration form by the deadline if you need to drop down. If not known by this time then any change may bring a financial penalty therefore we would be grateful if you could notify us as soon as you are aware and provide details to: cricketdirector@GtrMcrCricket.co.uk . 

Saturday - Withdrawal of a team 

Should you decide to drop a Saturday team, this is no problem, you may do so at the annual registration without any penalty, simply select "not entering" but if you change this after the form submission date when fixtures have been produced this will incur a financial penalty.

Sunday Competition

Sunday Season Dates

22 Sundays commencing after the first Saturday of the season plus one  or two Sundays after the Saturday season ends, depending on the number of fixtures required and ground availability.

Sundays are also used for all GMCL Cup competitions and therefore this limits the number of available Sundays for Sunday League games.

Clubs entering the competition sign up to have their ground available every Sunday within those 22 match days 

  1. Exemptions can be given for Sundays. 
    1. If major ground works are planned for the season end 
    2. Or the club has a long standing annual arrangement for use of the ground
  2. Any new application for a major event at the ground within those dates must be made to the Cricket Director of GMCL - cricketdirector@gtrmcrcricket.co.uk 
    1. No exemptions will be granted for clubhouse or ground unavailability due to private hire of the facilities
  3. Details of exemptions required must also be entered on the annual registration form.

Sunday Divisions

Sunday Structure

We will be bringing in changes to the Sunday competition from 2026. 

We are aiming to simplify the Sunday structure in view of 

  1. development league idea having failed 
  2. open league only having been partially successful 

We will  create a more competitive structure within the main Sunday competition 

  1. to make administration easier and to streamline eligibility rules. 
  2. potentially free up some space in the calendar.

Challenges

  1. Clubs use Sunday cricket for very different reasons (player development, ensuring they have cricket on the ground, providing games for all members, playing more competitive cricket, playing more local sides, 
  2. Hard to accommodate everyone’s needs when some clubs want to play more matches and some want less matches

Proposal – That we fold our existing Sunday competitions into a single unified structure with different requirements met within that structure.

The New Structure would look like this.

  1. Level 1 – Sunday Premier 1 (Single 10 team league - 18 games).
  2. Level 2 – Sunday Premier 2 (Single 10 team League - 18 games).
  3. Level 3 – Sunday Division 1 (Single 10 team League - 18 games).
  4. Level 4 – Sunday Division 2 (2 parallel roughly regionally divided league – one of 8 teams -14 games, one of 10 teams - 18 games).
  5. Level 5 – Sunday Division 3 (3 parallel regional league – 2 of 8 teams -14 games, one of 10 - depending on interest - 18 games).

Promotion & Relegation

  1. 3 up/3 down between Prem 1-Prem 2-Div 1. 
  2. 3 down from Div 1 to Div 2 (with 2 coming up from the 10 team league and 1 from the 8 team league (highest placed team that wishes to move to 18 games) 
  3. 6 Down from Div 2 (3 from each league, with 2 teams coming up from Div 3 level).

The number of teams entering on Sunday changes each year so we cannot predict exactly how many divisions there will be

Registration Form

All details of all teams must be entered on the form by 31st October. Teams not entered by 31st October will not be given a place in the competition.