The Palace Shield, officially known as the MHA Palace Shield for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket competition based in Preston and surrounding districts in Lancashire, England. There are eight divisions in the main Saturday competition, three Sunday leagues, a Twenty20 competition and a junior competition.
Test cricketers such as Andrew Flintoff and Simon Kerrigan began their careers in the Palace Shield, although it remains a competition for amateurs only. Richard Gleeson who played One Day International and Twenty20 Cricket for England Cricket Team also played in the competition.
In 2024,[1] changes were made to the competition which saw a coalition between the Northern Premier Cricket League (NCPL), the Palace Shield and the Westmorland Cricket League. It resulted in the NCPL becoming a two-division league, leaving the Palace Shield as an amateur competition and incorporating the Westmorland League into the pyramid in a more recognised fashion than previously. Division One and Division Two of the NCPL will have ten teams, as will the Palace Shield Premier Division.[2]
Clubs
editTeams for the 2025 season:[3]
Palace Shield Premier Division (10 teams)
edit- Eccleston
- Fylde
- Heysham
- Lancaster
- Morecambe
- Penrith
- Preston
- Rufford
- Torrisholme
- Westgate
Northern Premier Cricket League Division One (10 teams)
edit- Blackpool
- Chorley
- Fleetwood
- Fulwood & Broughton
- Garstang
- Kendal
- Leyland
- Longridge
- Netherfield
- Settle
Northern Premier Cricket League Division Two (10 teams)
edit- Barrow
- Carlisle
- Carnforth
- Euxton
- Great Eccleston
- Mawdesley
- Penwortham
- St Annes
- Thornton-Cleveleys
- Vernon Carus
References
edit- ^ "Nathan Walmsley blows away Torrisholme to seal Penwortham’s top-six position in Palace Shield" – Lancashire Post, 23 September 2024
- ^ "Changes to NPCL and Palace Shield for the 2025 season" – The Gazette, 22 April 2024
- ^ Diver, Alex. "2025 Divisions Confirmed". www.palaceshieldcricket.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
External links
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