Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League General Manager Nick Archer was given a rousing reception by the league’s member clubs as he stood down after 23 years in office.

The former Walsall and Staffordshire skipper has been the focal point of the West Midlands’ leading cricket league since 2000 when the then 112-year old Birmingham League first became one of the ECB’s accredited premier leagues.

Since then he has overseen the league – which encompasses the leading 24 club sides from Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, South Staffordshire and Herefordshire – as it evolved into its current position as possibly the strongest cricket league in the country.

Working alongside a committee of volunteers which includes a number of well-known faces from around the West Midlands’ club cricket scene, Archer has steered the league which sits atop the West Midlands cricket pyramid through the challenges brought by COVID as well as a major restructure.

And according to Birmingham Premier League Chair Dave Manning, club cricket in the West Midlands owes plenty to the league’s outgoing General Manager.

Manning told the league’s AGM: “A simple thank-you doesn’t come close to doing justice to the manner in which Nick has conducted the role over the last 23 years.

“Without his guidance, absolute commitment to our league, support to myself, the members of the management board and all the league’s member clubs we would be nowhere near the position in which we now find ourselves as standard-setters for Premier League cricket in England.

“I’m sure I speak for every member club past or present in wishing Nick the very best for future challenges and for his retirement.”

Archer first played in the old Birmingham League as a 13-year-old in 1969 and has been connected with it ever since.

He hands the reins over to Paul Smith who also has a playing association with the league from his time representing and captaining Kenilworth Wardens and Moseley Ashfield.

The league AGM also announced the appointment of former West Bromwich Dartmouth cricketer Mick Corcoran as the league’s 2024 President.

Awards were given to Ombersley’s Taylor Cornall and Dartmouth’s Ismail Mohammed who were respectively chosen as player-of-the-year and young player-of-the-year for their fine performances during 2023.

Cornall scored 900 runs at an average of 69.23 and took 22 wickets in his club’s Division One campaign while Ismail’s 837 runs at 64.38 played an important part in WBD’s promotion as Division Two champions.

Shrewsbury, Harborne and Smethwick picked up awards for the quality of their grounds while Kash Sumra was chosen as the league’s umpire-of-the-year.

Full minutes plus audited accounts and a copy of the Chairman’s annual report are found in the downloads section of the league website https://birminghamleague.org/downloads