Rules
(Age
groups are based on the age of the player at midnight on the 31st
August in the year preceding the current season).
The
League shall be called the Newark and District Cricket League.
To
provide cricket in the evening or at the weekend for the enjoyment of all
participants, bearing in mind that this can only be achieved by the full and
reasonable co-operation of all concerned.
Membership
shall consist of teams within a 15 (fifteen) mile radius of Newark but 12
(twelve) miles as the ‘crow flies’.
The
League shall be governed by a Management Committee comprising of Chairman,
Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Fixture Secretary and four independent
members, an Executive Committee comprising of the Management Committee plus one
voting member from each club.
Ex-officio
members and members of the Management Committee will not be considered as
voting members of the Executive Committee.
Fixture
Meeting – October
Other
– August or September
AGM
– January
The
annual subscription fee for each team shall be £30.00, which must be paid by
the 1st May each year. Clubs failing to do so will be fined £2.00
per month until paid. Clubs wishing to resign must notify the Secretary, in
writing, between the end of the season and the next Fixture meeting.
a)
A
fixture meeting will take place on a date to be appointed by the Management
Committee in October each year, when the composition of the league for the
coming season will be decided. Each team competing in it’s respective division
shall play each other on a home and away basis unless previously agreed with
the Secretary. E.g. ground unfit or unavailable and the ‘home’ team agreeing to
play ‘away’, or if at the said meeting, the number of clubs entering shall be
considered insufficient to form two divisions but too many to form a single
division on a ‘home’ and ‘away’ basis, in which case the Management Committee
can agree to each team playing each other just once. A toss of a coin or mutual
agreement shall decide the ‘home’ team in each fixture but in subsequent
seasons the fixture shall be reversed. The fixtures for the following year
shall be made in October each year.
b)
The
Management Committee shall draw up a master list of fixtures and, if possible,
the preliminary and first rounds of the League Cups shall be arranged for a
fixed date, i.e during an early week in the season. These will be verified at
the fixture meeting. A copy of the master list including the Cup draws will
then be issued to each club and will be acknowledged by the club no later than
January each year. This will then be taken as a firm and binding list of
fixtures for that season.
c)
League
games can only be cancelled, due to bad weather, by the home captain or the
groundsman and may not be re-arranged. Cup games, however, must be re-arranged
within 7 (seven) days and notified immediately to the Fixture Secretary or the
Cup registrar. Should the team’s involved fail to agree on a re-arranged date
within this period, the Cup registrar will fix the date.
MCC
laws shall be adhered to except the five run penalty law, which was introduced
in 2003. Five penalty runs for the ball hitting the helmet shall still apply.
Any
club or official feeling that a five run penalty should have been given should
write a letter detailing the offence to be decided upon by the Management
Committee.
Teams
shall supply an umpire at both home and away matches. The match ball and spare
shall be in the possession of the umpires prior to the toss. In the absence of
an umpire the captain shall nominate a suitable replacement. If any team has
any player under the age of 19 these shall be nominated to the opposing captain
prior to the commencement of the game.
Captains
are to make sure they adhere to the ECB fielding restrictions that apply to
youth players.
·
No
young player in the Under 15 age group, or younger, shall be allowed to field
closer than 8 yards from the middle stump, except behind the wicket on the off
side, until the batsman has played the ball.
·
For
players in the Under 13 age group and below this is 11 yards.
·
These
distances apply even if the player is wearing a helmet.
·
Should
a young player in these age groups come within these distances the umpire must
stop the game immediately and instruct the fielder to move back.
·
Players
in the U16 to U18 age groups, who have not reached the age of 18, must wear a
helmet and, for boys, a protective box when fielding within 6 yards of the bat
except behind the wicket on the off side.
No
player shall play for more than one club in the League and it’s Cup
competitions in one season. A player’s first appearance for a club shall deem
him registered with that club for the remainder of the season. A player may
change clubs with the permission of the Management Committee.
a)
League
and knock-out cup matches shall consist of each team playing not less than 12
(twelve) 8 (eight) ball overs in the match. Games will commence no later than
6.30pm. No alteration shall be allowed to this rule except in evening games
during the month of August when, by mutual agreement between the captains, a
minimum of 8 (eight) 8 (eight) ball overs can apply.
b)
Each
bowler to bowl a maximum of 3 (three) 8 (eight) ball overs in any game.
c)
Fifteen
minutes grace shall be given to teams arriving late at matches after which
period the team being fully represented shall have the choice of innings.
Clubs
in default of this clause shall expect the opposing captain to claim this
privilege and shall respect such action.
Four
points for a win, two points for a tie (to each team) and one point for a
rained off match (to each team). In the event of two or more teams tying at the
end of a season the League Championship will be decided by the difference
between each teams average of runs scored per wickets lost and the average of
runs conceded per wickets taken through the season. Incomplete matches to be
included.
In
the event of a cup match being tied the team losing the least number of wickets
will be the winner. If these are equal the match is to be replayed at the away
team’s ground.
The
Home club shall be responsible for ensuring that a detailed, signed, official
score sheet is forwarded to the registrar within 5 (five) days of the match
being played. All cases of a fully completed score sheet NOT reaching the
registrar will be reported to the Management Committee, who will fine the Home
club £5.00.
Score
sheets for rained off matches must be forwarded to the Registrar by the Home
club within 5 (five) days of a cancelled match.
Dates
of all Cup matches must be notified to the Cup Registrar as soon as arranged.
Failure to notify the Registrar will render the offending teams liable to a
fine of £2.00.
Protests
shall be made to the League Secretary in writing within 5 (five) days of a
match, together with a fee of £10, returnable if the objection is sustained. If
the protest has regard to a match not played for reasons other than bad weather
a copy of this letter of protest must be sent, at the same time, by the
protesting club to the other club involved.
The
League Secretary, on receipt of such a letter of protest, shall also contact
the other club involved to make sure they are in receipt of a copy of the
protest, before asking the Management Committee to judge on such a protest. The
Management Committee’s decision will be final.
If
any question shall arise in connection with the league competition, cup tournament
or a players behaviour or conduct on or off the field of play towards another
player, team or official, whether or not the same is dealt with elsewhere,
either in these rules of any cup tournament or other competition the committee
shall have the full power to inflict such penalties on both clubs and players
as they think fit.
Their
decision shall be final and by way of example, and not by definition. Such
penalties may be either a fine, number of points deduction or in the case of
poor behaviour or conduct of a player, a period of suspension. The period of
suspension shall apply to both the player and the captain concerned as they are
responsible for their players on the field of play under the MCC Spirit of the
Game. This period of suspension shall be at the absolute discretion of the
Committee whose decision shall be final PROVIDED THAT before any such penalty
is imposed:
1.
The
player, captain and / or the secretary for the Club against whom any complaint
has been made shall be notified in writing of the complaint and shall be
advised that in the event of the complaint being sustained the Committee may
act in reliance of its powers as contained in this rule.
2.
The
player, captain and / or the secretary of the Club against whom any complaint
has been made shall be notified in writing of the date, place and time when the
Committee shall consider the complaint and shall be entitled to attend and
listen to all the evidence given in support of the complaint, to question any
person giving such evidence, to call evidence on their own behalf and to
address the Committee and comment on all points raised.
In
the event of any ground being unfit for play owing to bad weather, the Home
Club shall notify their opponents as early as possible to prevent unnecessary
travelling. Only a Home Club can take such a decision. Visiting teams cannot
assume that a match will be cancelled because of weather prevailing in their
own locality at the time. If in doubt, a visiting team would be advised to
endeavour to contact the Home Club before setting out.
A
basis of promotion and relegation will apply within the league when two or more
division are in operation. The number of teams to be promoted and relegated
each season to be decided upon by the Management Committee.
In
the event of one Club entering more than one team into the League in any one
season a basis of 4 (four) up and down players will be allocated between teams.
Individual names to be approved by the Management Committee, names to be
forwarded to the League Secretary by the First of May each year.
The
qualifying number of innings for the batting award will be 2/3rds (two-thirds)
of actual played matches with a minimum of 160 runs scored. The best average
obtained following this ruling shall be the winner of this award.
The
bowling award shall be awarded to the player who finished top of the bowling
averages provided he has obtained a minimum of 10 (ten) wickets and bowled a
minimum of 10 (ten) overs.
The
names of players qualifying for the League averages, together with full details
of a claim, shall be submitted by their representative clubs, where possible,
to the registrar. The decision of the Management Committee shall be final and
binding.
Failure
to be represented at a Fixture meeting will render a Club excluded from the Cup
competitions for a season. After which re-application for membership will be
considered.
A fine
of £10 will be made for non-attendance of clubs at Executive Meetings. Both of
these decisions will be at the discretion of the Management Committee.
Notices
of motion of any proposed alteration to the rules shall be given to the
Secretary, in writing, 14 (fourteen) days prior to the Annual General Meeting.
Application
from clubs to join the League must be received by the League Secretary before
the Fixture Meeting each year. Late applications will, however, be considered
by the Management Committee.
Matters
arising that are not provided for under these rules shall be dealt with by the
Management Committee, whose decision will be final.
Each
team or individual awarded a trophy will be held responsible for insuring that
trophy. The value of each trophy can be obtained from the League Treasurer.
Details of loss or damage to the trophies must be forwarded to the League
Management as soon as possible.
Each
trophy winner will be required to acknowledge receipt of the trophy, in
writing, and accept responsibility for safe keeping until required to return it
to the League.
The
ground and facilities of any club must be of a standard acceptable to the
Management Committee. The ground must be accessible for Emergency Services and
all of these items are subject to a Management inspection at any time.
The
Home team shall be responsible for providing a proper seamed and quartered
leather cricket ball in good condition and this shall be presented to the
opposing captain for approval. Such approval shall not reasonably be withheld.
The
following guidelines are to be used to help interpret what constitutes a “wide
ball”. The ball will be considered as passing wide of the striker unless it is
sufficiently within his / her reach for him / her to be able to hit it with
their bat by means of a normal cricket stroke. Balls passing over head height
of a batsman stood upright shall be called and signalled No Ball.
·
Wide
balls for any cup competition shall be any ball passing down the leg side of a
batsman in a normal guard position.
The
teams finishing in first and second place in both the league and Cup would receive
a contribution towards the cost of their trophies.