GRASSROOTS cricket in the North-East will face its biggest shake-up in two decades in 2018.

For local teams have voted for the Northumberland and Tyneside Cricket League (NTSL), which features Tynedale and Stocksfield, and the Northumberland Cricket League (NCL), of which Corbridge is a member, to merge into one.

As part of the merger, teams in the NTSL A1 will play in Division One with NTSL A2 members contesting Division Two. The NCL Premier League will be renamed Division Three.

As we get to Division Four, the top six teams in the NCL Division One and NTSL B1 Division will merge.

There will then be two regionalised leagues of Division Five North and South, with the bottom six teams of the NCL Division One and NTSL B1, along with all 12 teams of the NTSL B2. Division Six will consist of all teams in the NCL second and third divisions.

The moves will allow second teams currently only able to play in the A2 and B2 leagues the chance for promotion to play against the region’s first teams.