The competition was originally only open to "senior" cricket sides (sides playing in the senior county leagues) and in 1972 the National Village Cup competition was formed for village sides unable to enter this competition. In 1997 the ECB released a blueprint to the future of cricket written by Lord MacLaurin called "Raising the Standards",[1] the report suggested counties created county board ran leagues, designed to raise the standard of club cricket and bridge the gap between Club and county cricket. This led to the creation of the ECB Premier Leagues. Preference for entry to the competition was given to clubs in ECB Premier Leagues, although lower-level clubs are able to take part if they can be accommodated.
The format has largely stayed the same from the initial season to the present day. All teams are split into 16 regional knockouts, with the 16 winners going into a national round.
