Cricket Leagues Hall of Fame [WIP]

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Cricket Leagues Hall of Fame

PC Champions League by Prithvi & Various
Australian Premier League by Biggy
New Zealand Premier League by CG123
English Premier League by Sartaj/Iridium
World Premier League by Sartaj
Associate Premier League by Aislabie
Europa Cup by VC the slogger
Legends at Battle by VC the slogger
Cricket at the Olympics by VC the slogger
Elite League: Australia by Aislabie/VC the slogger
Indian One-Day Championship by Na Maloom Afraad
World of Cricket by Na Maloom Afraad

Criteria for Nominations

- Must have a minimum of five completed seasons run and/or five years of activity.
- A properly maintained index with an archive and at least a modicum of effort for statistics.
- Good presentation and proper-ish ratings.
- For Premier Leagues: a minimum of three CL appearances and/or a CL winning side.

The PC Cricket Leagues Hall of Fame is curated by Aislabie, Na Maloom Afraad and VC the slogger.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

PC Champions League by Prithvi & Various

The Champions League has been the absolute pinnacle of the cricket leagues section for the better part of 15 years, so much so that one of the eligibility criteria for future Hall of Fame nominations is a minimum of three Champions League appearances and/or a Champions League title. Incepted by Prithvi, then known as Binnu, the Champions League revolutionized cricket leagues as a whole and brought forth what many consider the 'Golden Age' of franchise-based Premier Leagues on the forums, with Biggy's Australian Premier League, CG123's New Zealand Premier League, and Iridium's English Premier League making up the golden days of said golden age.

Unluckily, Prithvi could only manage to run one completed season of the Champions League, called the Clash of Titans, despite being the originator of this revolutionary concept, which has since seen nearly a dozen different managers take over the reins across its 22 seasons and 15 years of existence. The Champions League boasts a history and a legacy that even tournaments in real life fail to rival, therefore making it a fitting first-ever inductee into the PlanetCricket Cricket Leagues Hall of Fame.

Sadly, Prithvi passed away a few years ago and will not be here to witness this induction. And on just as much of a somber note, it was learned recently that despite coming up with the idea by himself, Prithvi was booted out of his league by a snob club of that era, who took over the league for themselves and even disregarded the first season as if it never even existed. As a token of appreciation and a heartfelt thank you for his contributions to the forums, not only will he be the original inductee into the Hall of Fame, but Prithvi will also be awarded the dedicated 'Prithvi Medal,' an honor that will forever elude those who excluded him from his own creation.

 

[Aislabie]

Legends At Battle by @VC the slogger
​

All the way back in 2012, at the height of the Premier Leagues era, Michael Holding ran in to bowl at Michael Vaughan in the very first Legends At Battle fixture. The league started with a simple concept: what if all of cricket's most legendary names were to play in one big tournament? The first season gave us something unique and although it has now been running for over a decade, Legends At Battle has given us something new and exciting with every season. The league grew and improved in step with its manager, and both are now rightly recognised as being among the very best ever to appear in the Leagues section.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

I - Champions: @El Loco and @Fenil (Pakistan)
II - Champion: @Dipak (South Africa)
III - Champion: @sos (England)
IV - Champion: @BlitzBerg (Barracudas)
V - Champion: @Fenil (Australia B)
VI - Champion: @Aislabie (West Indies)
VII - Champion: @PCA (North America)
VIII - Champions: @presidentevil and @CerealKiller (Professional XI)
IX - Champions: @Samuels and @Dipak (West Indies)
X - Champion: @the deadman (Australia)
XI - Champion: @Na Maloom Afraad (Karachi Cricket Club)

 

[Aislabie]

Elite League Australia by @Aislabie (Season 1) and @VC the slogger (Season 2 - present)​

Elite League Australia is known for being the league that created arguably the best team ever to go to the PlanetCricket Champions League. This was possible because of the league's founding ethos: where so many leagues have opened up to as many teams as possible, including another legendary Australian league, ELA was different: only five founding teams, with all the best players in the world. As the years have passed, teams have joined the league from Hobart and Canberra, but that founding principle of high-quality cricket remains. This is also the league where @VC the slogger debuted his trademark stats packages, which set a brand new standard for what can be achieved in a PC league.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

I - Champion: @Fenil (West Coast Fever)
II - Champion: @Fenil (West Coast Fever)
III - Champions: @Umair7 and @Andrin Issac (Sydney Roosters)
IV - Champion: @SiriusBlack (Queensland Firebirds)
V - Champions: @PCA and @themusketeer (Hobart Tigers)
VI - Champions: @Umair7 and @Sami Kumar (Sydney Roosters)
VII - Champions: @Umair7 and @Gaurav_7 (Sydney Roosters)
VIII - Champion: @Aislabie (Adelaide Crows)

 

[VC the slogger]

Australian Premier League - @Biggy​

At a time when premier leagues were only just starting to become a thing in cricket, it was @Biggy who began the trend on these forums with an immaculately well-presented league that ran for as many as 13 seasons and showed the way to other members who would go on to emulate him with varying degrees of success. This also helped usher in a golden era of premier leagues in the Cricket Leagues section lasting for the first half of the 2010s, when forum activity reached a peak that is yet to be matched. Although the NZPL thread predates this by a good five months or so, if we're really being honest it was Biggy's APL that started it all - he had originally begun this league in the Trans-Tasman Premier League thread, which he probably gave up once the forum got it's own NZPL.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

Season I - Sydney Stallions (@WORLD CHAMPIONS)
Season II - South Sydney Stallions (@WORLD CHAMPIONS)
Season III - Newcastle Nanobots (@Varun)
Season IV - Sydney Stallions (@CG123)
Season V - Canberra Super Crushers (@riz7khan12)
Season VI - Melbourne United (@Sartaj)
Season VII - Gold Coast Crusaders (@AkshayS)
Season VIII - Perth Panthers (@BKB1991)
Season IX - Canberra Super Crushers (@riz7khan12)
Season X - Gold Coast Crusaders (@AkshayS)
Season XI - Sydney Stallions (@CG123)
Season XII - Brisbane Bandits (@Gaurav_7 & @Aislabie)

 

[VC the slogger]

New Zealand Premier League - @CG123​

The success of Biggy's APL (then the Trans-Tasman Premier League) led to @CG123 starting off a fully fledged New Zealand Premier League, which was every bit the equal of the APL in terms of presentation and overall quality over the course of it's 12 seasons. Unfortunately, none of these seasons could ever go on to produce a Champions League winner with their own champions falling short of the final hurdle on as many as six occasions - the most for any league never to win a CL. While Australia has since found a suitable successor for the APL in ELA, there is yet to emerge a league of similar quality that has done New Zealand cricket justice like this one did.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

Season I - Canterbury Cannons (@Gary123)
Season II - Canterbury Cannons (@irottev)
Season III - Otago Volts (@BKB1991)
Season IV - Bay of Plenty Vikings (@WubbaLubbaDubDub)
Season V - Canterbury Crusaders (@-D-S-B-)
Season VI - Hawke's Bay Magpies (@Viral Shah)
Season VII - Waikato Warriors (@Chewie)
Season VIII - Wellington Wolves (@Sartaj)
Season IX - Wellington Wolves (@Sartaj)
Season X - Hawke's Bay Magpies (@Haarithan)
Season XI - Hawke's Bay Magpies (@Haarithan)
Season XII - Waikato Warriors (@Ahmad Shah)

 

[VC the slogger]

World Premier League - @Sartaj​

A part of the trio of leagues that can be credited with giving proper life to this section, this league run by @Sartaj was by far the most ginormous. Thirteen thousand replies is a record that is unlikely to ever be broken, especially over the course of only eight seasons which depicts an insane amount of activity in this thread. But apart from all that, this was a quality package overall with Sartaj trying out different themes, formats (most of it's seasons were in the T30 format) and even ratings away from the usual tried and tested methods.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

Season I - Rapid Reds (no info available as this season was run on a different forum)
Season II - Violent Violets (winning manager unknown)
Season III - Grappling Grays (@CG123)
Season IV - Grounding Greens (@yashwanth kumar)
Season V - Sizzling Silvers (@AkshayS)
Season VI - Youthful Yellows (@Haarithan)
Season VII (aka WW3) - Union (@Biggy) & Alliance (@Chewie); one-off Test series drawn 5-5
Season VIII - Marvel Maroons (@Gaurav_7)

 

[Aislabie]

Cricket at the Olympic Games by @VC the slogger
​

One of the most ambitious leagues we've ever seen on the forum, Cricket at the Olympic Games set out to simulate top-level cricket tournaments as if they had been present at every single Olympic Games from 1896 until the present day. Although the Gold has so far gone only to Australia, Great Britain and the United States, the other medals have been spread around such places as Argentina, Canada, Ireland, South Africa and the West Indies, while there have been teams competing from as far afield as the Republic of China. Truly a wonderful answer to a historical "What if?", and the whole forum hopes that this league can eventually catch up with real life.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

Athens 1896 - Champion: @Aislabie (United States)
Paris 1900 - Champion: @themusketeer (Australia)
St Louis 1904 - Champion: @themusketeer (Australia)
Athens 1906 (Intercalated Games) - Champion: @Aislabie (United States)
London 1908 - Champion: @Saroj padhy (Great Britain)
Stockholm 1912 - Champion: @Saroj padhy (Great Britain)
Antwerp 1920 - Champion: @CerealKiller (Australia)
Paris 1924 - Champion: @CerealKiller (Australia)
Amsterdam 1928 - Champion: @CerealKiller (Australia)
Los Angeles 1932 - Champion: @Saroj padhy (Great Britain)
Berlin 1936 - Champion: @CerealKiller (Australia)

 

[Aislabie]

Europa Cup by @VC the slogger​

The Europa Cup, which has run for five seasons, acts as something of a chronicle of European cricket. It began in 2012, when European cricket was dominated by Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland, and when the Danish, Italian and "Continental" teams were simply not equipped to be competitive - but by its most recent season in 2023, Ireland were full members and Continental United took the final down to the very last over against eventual champions Malahide. Every single season of this league was of the absolute highest quality, and because seasons were so spread out, every single one felt like a big, stand alone event. Who know how different European Cricket will look by the time Season VI comes around!

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

I - Champion: @Prats (Edinburgh Bulls)
II - Champion: @SiriusBlack (Clontarf Firebirds)
III - Champion: @Aggz (Highland Barbarians)
IV - Champions: @Andrin Issac and @Aislabie (Hague Harriers)
V - Champions: @RUDI and @ABDULLAH (Malahide Mavericks)

 

[Aislabie]

Indian One-Day Championship by @Na Maloom Afraad
​

There was a long time when Indian leagues on PlanetCricket seemed cursed to last for only one stuttering season at a time. By the time @Na Maloom Afraad started the Indian One-Day Championship, that curse had already been broken - but IODC arrived and took the leagues section by storm. It initially seemed like nobody, not even Darren Stevens, could beat the mighty Rajasthan Royals. As with all things though, other teams eventually rose to meet the standard set by Rajasthan - but the ebbs and flows of certain teams' fortunes are set against the consistent excellence of the league itself.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

2019 - Champions: @Gaurav_7 and @Life Warrior (Rajasthan Royals)
2020 - Cancelled (COVID)
2021 - Champions: @Gaurav_7 and @Life Warrior (Rajasthan Royals)
2022 - Champion: @Aislabie (Delhi Capitals)
2023 - Champions: @Aravind. and @RUDI (Kolkata Knight Riders)

 

[VC the slogger]

English Premier League - @Sartaj (Season I) and @Iridium (Season II-VIII)​

Originally started by @Sartaj - the creator of the ginormous World Premier League, this league flourished under the care of @Iridium, who proved himself one of the most innovative league managers in leagues section history (see Ultimate Team) and ran the tournament for seven of it's eight huge seasons. While being exceptionally managed, it boasted two franchises that would go on to boss the Champions League in Manchester CC (CL III) and Liverpool Lightning (CL VI), whilst two others in Nottingham Outlaws (CL X) and Southampton Sharks (CL XI) narrowly missed out in the finals. This at a time when English cricket was far from the white ball force it would become by the late 2010s. I also love the fact that Paul Collingwood chanelled the energy of Don Bradman into his game whenever playing in this league, averaging an astonishing 80-plus with the bat at one point of time.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

Season I - Manchester Cricket Club (@AkshayS & @riz7khan12)
Season II - Liverpool Lightning (@Haarithan)
Season III - Nottingham Outlaws (@Sartaj)
Season IV - Durham Dynamos (@CG123)
Season V - Durham Dynamos (@CG123)
Season VI - Nottingham Outlaws (@Sartaj)
Season VII - Southampton Sharks (@BKB1991)
Season VIII - Northampton Tigers (@Aislabie)

 

[VC the slogger]

Associate Premier League - @Aislabie​

There was a time when not many people on these forums knew or cared about what went on beyond the Test world. The word 'minnows' often came into use to describe such players unfortunate enough to originate from countries given unequal status by the ICC, playing with real passion at the expense of their day jobs only to be looked at like unwanted prom dates. People around here only truly delved deeper and began to appreciate such players by participating in this league started by @Aislabie in late 2011, which ran successfully for six seasons. They were simply referred to the correct term of "associates" thereafter and everyone was forced to finally take proper notice when Nairobi Nomads very nearly ended up winning CL IX, only to be denied by one of the GOAT premier league franchises in @Fenil's Basnahira Bears.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

Season I - Nairobi Nomads (@Ahmad Shah)
Season II - Nairobi Nomads (@Ahmad Shah)
Season III - Dubai Dominators (@El Loco)
Season IV - Toronto Raptors (@Umair7)
Season V - Amsterdam Pirates (@Dipak)
Season VI - Glasgow CC (@VC the slogger)

 

[Aislabie]

World of Cricket by @Na Maloom Afraad
​

Once upon a time in 2015, I created the excessively ambitious Cricket Dynasty. The workload for this league was so huge that I needed to invite two other members to help me run the thing, and even then I burnt myself out and gave up on it by the end of the year. Fast forward to 2022, and @Na Maloom Afraad took that initial idea and turned it into something bigger, better and more immersive than I could have ever imagined - and he did it all by himself, while running other current and future Hall of Fame leagues alongside it. Even now that the league has gone on sabbatical, we can still look back through the meticulously maintained stats and records of an entire world of cricket. This league is simply the greatest achievement in cricket leagues history, and nobody else could have made it happen.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

1999 WCC Nations League - @Neptune (Guernsey)
2000 WCC Knockout Trophy - @Paranoid Kendroid (Denmark)
2000 Super League - @RUDI (Northerns, South Africa)
2001 WCC Nations League - @Neptune (Guernsey)
2001 WCC Club World Cup - @Na Maloom Afraad (Rabat Al-Ittiyah, Morocco)
2002 WCC Knockout Trophy - @RUDI (South Africa)
2002 Commonwealth Games - @pillowprocter (Vanuatu)
2002 WCC Club World Cup - @isFEISARfair (Beijing, PR China)
2003 WCC Nations League - @ahmedleo414 (Canada)
2003 WCC Club World Cup - @Welwyn (Aberystwyth Avengers, Wales)
2003 WCC Cricket World Cup - @Till Valhalla (Niue)

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

PC Cricket Career (PCCC) by TSPrathik

TSPrathik's PlanetCricket Cricket Career was by far the best experience as a player for an RPG league pre-WoC, and in manys ways it set the standard for how leagues involving player likenesses should be run. PCCC was the absolute gold standard for the entirety of its existence, allowing users to signup as professional cricketers and giving them the opportunity play anywhere in the world, and for any team in the world, whether in international cricket or domestically. Matches were even presented with real-life overlays/broadcasting graphics, making it even more unique and immersive for users playing through, essentially, a career mode. It ran for a year nonstop before going on a hiatus, and within that year, the sheer volume of matches presented was never truly rivaled or replicated until WoC came along, nearly a decade later. PCCC was the biggest inspirations I drew for WoC, as it was the absolute best experience I ever had as a player, better even than the official The PlanetCricket League.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

How does one even begin to think about doing a roll of honor for a league such as this?

 

[VC the slogger]

Zimbabwe Premier League - @CremerCurrans (Season II-present) & @Prats (Season I)​

This league run by @CremerCurrans (formerly swirler) has been remarkable over the years in many aspects - from being inaugurated in the first-class format by @Prats in 2010, then being played in the Pro40 and T20 formats until Season IV, and finally settling in the 50-over format Season V onwards which made it arguably the greatest premier league of all-time with a history to rival that of the Champions League. If that's not enough, towards it's latter stages the ZPL even introduced an Academies League for upcoming talents and fringe players that has also become one of it's best features. The amount of dedication and passion for a single cricket league put in by @CremerCurrans for more than 20 seasons with little indication of slowing down is simply mind-boggling, and we hope it stays that way for many more seasons to come. Also, rather more surprisingly given the fact that it's a league based in Zimbabwe, the ZPL even boasts a CL winner in Manicaland Bulls who stunned everyone by clinching the CL X title ahead of several teams from 'stronger' cricketing nations.

Spoiler: Roll of Honour

Season I (Logan Cup) - Southern Rocks (@tarun87)
Season II (Pro40) - Mid West Rhinos (@AkshayC)
Season II (T20) - Manicaland Bulls (@Zohaib)
Season III (Pro40) - Mashonaland Eagles (@HawkAussie)
Season III (T20) - Mountaineers (@Near)
Season IV (Pro40) - Mountaineers (@Near)
Season IV (Logan Cup) - Mid West Rhinos (@sid2K11)

(Season V onwards, all games were played in the 50-over format)

Season V - Mashonaland Eagles (@Umair7 @Biggy)
Season VI - Matabelaland Tuskers (@RPHKR & @Fenil)
Season VII - Manicaland Bulls (@Dipak)
Season VIII - Manicaland Bulls (@Dipak)
Season IX - Manicaland Bulls (@Dipak)
Season X - Mashonaland Eagles (@Ahmad94)
Season XI - Matabeleland Tuskers (@VC the slogger)
Season XII - Mountaineers (@Varun & @Aggz)
Season XIII - Southern Rocks (@Umair7)
Season XIV - Matabeleland Tuskers (@themusketeer)

(Zimbabwe Academies League introduced Season XV onwards)

Season XV - Mountaineers (@ABDULLAH & @CerealKiller)
ZAL I - Harare Eagles Academy (@Saroj padhy)
Season XVI - Mashonaland Eagles (@Saroj padhy)
ZAL II - Midlands Rhinos Academy (@Akshay.)
Season XVII - Triangle Tigers (@Umair7 & @VC the slogger)
ZAL III - Triangle Academy (@Umair7)
Season XVIII - Triangle Tigers (@Umair7 & @VC the slogger)
Season XIX - Southern Rocks (@Aislabie & @ahmedleo414)
ZAL IV - Harare Eagles Academy (@Na Maloom Afraad)
Season XX - Manicaland Mountaineers (@ABDULLAH)
ZAL V - Masvingo Academy (@Paranoid Kendroid)