THERE is a pyramid being built in Northumberland.

It’s not a replica of one from Egypt, but an attempt to spice up the cricket scene in the county.

The top leagues in Northumberland are on the verge of making promotion and relegation a certainty.

Pyramids in the provincial cricket leagues are nothing new. Indeed, way back in 1933, there was a chance of a pyramid system of league cricket being established in Northumberland.

At that time, the Tyneside Senior League was where most Northumberland clubs were playing, along with several clubs from Durham.

In a series of secret meetings that year, the Northumberland clubs decided to form their own league - the other option being, if it was ever considered, to tier the divisions of the Tyneside Senior League.

In 1934, the Northumberland clubs officially broke away, leaving the Tyneside Senior League to its own devices. Crashing down to earth came the dreams of the pyramidists.

That was the way it stayed until 1978 when the top 12 clubs of the Northumberland League, including Tynedale, broke away again to form the Northumberland Cricket League (NCL).

This league would last until the completion of the 1999 season when, under the banner of raising standards, The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) formed their premier leagues.

The North East Premier League was one of many. Tynedale considered an invitation to join, but rejected.

Most players from this area who played their best cricket in those 22 years of the Northumberland County League would argue that the standard and competition was high.

Fast forward until 2000, and the district’s premier club, Tynedale, found themselves in the Northumberland and Tyneside Senior Cricket League (NTSL).

Finally, the two leagues had joined forces 67 years after they had their first chance to. Ponteland and Stocksfield, after a spell in the NCL, would join later.

Next year promises to be another year with the NTSL and the NCL will, with little doubt, come together after talks which have been described as fruitful between executives. Promotion and relegation will loom large.

Teams from NCL’s premier division, including Corbridge, will have a chance at promotion to the second tier of the NTSL A Division and, if succesful, a shot at the top tier A1, where Tynedale and Ponteland currently reside.

Stocksfield, on the other hand, if poor form dictates their season, could find themselves back in the NCL as current members of NTSL Division A2.

The winners of A1, which was Tynedale in 2014, will have the chance to challenge the winners of the Durham Cricket League for a place in the second tier of the North East Premier League.

In many objectives, one of which is enhancing second XI cricket, there will be a myriad of promotions and relegations between the B divisions of the NTSL and the lower leagues of the NCL.

Competitive cricket at all levels is the goal. As if it were cricket itself, we might have to wait a while for a result.

Tynedale’s first team travel to Ponteland on the opening day of the season on April 22 with both teams bidding for challenges at the top, and potenitally promotion!

By MATTHEW ERSKINE