County Championship Rules and Regulations 2010
Below follows a ‘timeline’ that each county will be expected to adhere to for 2010 season. It is vital that these deadlines are met, as not doing so will have a major implication on other processes and more importantly, you may find that counties may be excluded from competitions as a result.
1st January 2010 – Is the deadline for registering your County Teams for the forthcoming season’s competitions. As part of this registration process, you will be expected to pay your annual affiliation fees and indicate whether your county will be competing in the Hardball Leagues, the Incrediball Leagues or both.
Any change of mind by a county as to which league it enters after the 1st January will not be accepted and the County will also forfeit its affiliation fees should it ‘pull out’ of the competition.
An affiliation form is available as a download.
PLEASE NOTE: LATE ENTRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
28th February 2010 – Is the deadline for lodging your fixture dates. This date is set early due to various County Boards requiring the dates for County Board Fixture cards – of which, all Disability County Fixtures should be an integral part. A Fixture form for doing so is available as a download.
30th April 2010 – Is the deadline for registering your county players. This year, each county manager will be responsible for registering their players on-line, via the BACD website. This will be the ONLY method of registering players in 2010 so please be sure that you have access to a computer and the internet. Instructions on how to do this are detailed elsewhere in this book. The full registration rules and eligibilities are available on the BACD website. Counties playing unregistered players will be subject to POINTS DEDUCTIONS. Please be aware.
In summary, we are asking each county to make sure their ‘houses are in order’ BEFORE the season starts. We feel that this is not too much to ask, and in doing so, it reduces the amount of issues that are raised during the season.
MATCH DAY REQUIREMENTS
GROUND PREPARATION
The ground, which includes the outfield, surrounds, and the pitch should be fully prepared in readiness for the start of the match. Boundaries should be clearly marked with either a rope or white line.
If a white line is used, markers should also be provided.
Sightscreens should be aligned, and in accordance with the new laws be outside the boundary.
On grounds where it is not possible to place a sightscreen outside the boundary, the rope, or white line should be placed inside the sightscreen, always leaving sufficient room for the screen to be moved for a bowler bowling over or round the wicket.
The score box should be clean, tidy and ready for use.
The pitch should be correctly marked in accordance with the Laws.
Both Players and Umpires dressing rooms should be clean and tidy. In the Umpires room there should be two new match balls (provided by the Home team), six spare balls of varying degrees of usage, together with bails (including spares) and bowler’s markers. A copy of the League Playing Rules (this handbook) should be available.
Umpires should meet with Captains and receive their written team lists 30 minutes before the schedule start of the match. It is recommended that the Umpires supervise the toss and ensure that expectations relating to the role of the captains and behaviour are agreed. At this meeting agreement will be reached regarding any local rules, drinks breaks etc. In the case of a delayed start, the new amount of overs to be played, interval changes, etc. will be finalised.
As part of each match that is played, there are a number of administrative tasks that MUST be carried out. Failure to carry out any of these tasks will result in POINTS DEDUCTIONS. Please be aware.
Team Cards– These are provided to you and must be filled in, in their entirety and handed to the match Umpires at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start of games. The player’s names, along with their registration numbers must be provided. You are also obliged to indicate those players under 18 and must adhere to the ECB guidelines and directives on young people bowling. These guidelines are available to read from the ECB website and are detailed further on in this document.
Result Sheets – It is the responsibility of the HOME team to complete the result sheet and ensure that it has been posted in time to be received by the BACD by Friday following the match. The result sheet MUST be completed in its entirety. All players who have played must be listed, even if they did not bat or bowl.
A result sheet MUST also be completed even if a fixture had been cancelled, abandoned or even re-arranged from the published fixture date. A POINTS DEDUCTION will result if this does not happen.
The result sheet MUST contain the signature of BOTH Managers.
Under no circumstances will the BACD accept any other reporting media other than the result sheet, from the HOME team, signed by both Managers. Until that has been received, the result, points awarded and league tables will remain unaffected. Should this not be received within the set timescales, then penalty points will ensue.
COUNTIES PLEASE NOTE Umpires should be notified of any cancellation no later than two and a half hours before the scheduled starting time. If an umpire is not notified and travels to the ground, he will receive his full expenses.
In the event of a cancellation the HOME club is responsible for contacting BOTH umpires
RULES OF THE ECB/ BACD COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP
(SEPT 09 - 13TH EDITION)
The competition will be split into two leagues; the rules for each will be exactly the same other than the specification of the ball. One league will play with a standard leather cricket ball and will be divided into North and South divisions. The other league using the "Incrediball" will also be divided into North and South divisions.
In both leagues all sides will play 6 games per county as stipulated on the fixture sheets. The two semi-finals and a Final will be played. The semi-finals will be between the top team in their respective division against the runner-up in the other division. The ‘home’ team in the semi-finals will be the division winners in their respective leagues.
1. All county teams must play under the banner of their County Boards. Each County Team MUST have the following structure in place in order to compete in the Championship. It is strongly recommended that each Team should have a Team Manager. The Team Manager must be made known to the BACD and will become the main point of contact for that team by the BACD. The Team Manager must be in possession of a current CRB Certificate.
It is also strongly recommended that each team have, as a minimum, a level 2 qualified coach, who is responsible for coaching the county squad. Assistant coaches are also advisable and should be a minimum of UKCC Level 1 qualified. You will be required to inform the BACD of your coaches on the affiliation form, along with the coaches’ qualification certificate number and their CRB Certificate numbers. All coaches need to be members of the ECB Coaches Association.
There is no reason why the Team Manager and Coach could not be the same person.
Each team should also have a dedicated scorer. The Scorer should ideally be a member of the ACO (Association of Cricket Officials). Although this is not a stipulation for 2010, this will come in to force for 2011. Also for 2011, we will be introducing penalty point deductions for teams who do not have scorers present at county games.
Each County game MUST be officiated by official panel umpires via your county board. The umpire’s names need to be recorded on the result sheet.
2. All counties must be affiliated to BACD by 1st January of each year.
3. BACD will be responsible for the running and organisation of the competition. In the event of any dispute, contravention of playing conditions, misconduct of players or officials or other matter relating to the competition, ultimate authority will rest with BACD through its Tournaments & Rules Committee.
4. Players with a physical disability must meet the DSE (Disability Sport England) minimum classification for Paralympics sport.
Players with a learning disability must be able to demonstrate that they have a Statement of Special Educational Need or other such documentation that states that they have an intellectual impairment.
5. County of residence has first claim on any player, however players are free to play for another county should they choose to do so. A player must be registered to play for that county. Once registered, a player may only play for that County in any one year.
6. Players may transfer to other counties, however, they must complete the player transfer form (available on the BACD website) and they must meet the criteria for transfer contained within the form. In essence a player may only transfer during the closed season.
7. The BACD will provide sufficient match balls to the home teams. A new ball should be used at the commencement of each innings. Counties should ensure that they have a sufficient number of spare balls available, should the need arise.
1. Games will be 11-a-side, although teams will be allowed up to 3 substitutes. The substitutes must be registered players and must fall within the rule that applies to hardball /incrediball registered players. In other words no more than 2 hardball players will be accepted in the ‘squad’ of 14 (11 players and 3 subs). Games should also be played on fully prepared grass pitches. Counties are encouraged to use the best available facilities that they can, as these are county fixtures. Consideration should always be given to appropriate facilities for the various disabilities that will need to use them.
2. Matches will be played to a maximum of 40 6-ball overs per side duration with no bowler permitted to bowl more than 8 overs or 20% of the total overs. Games affected by adverse weather conditions shall be deemed to have been completed, so long as each side has bowled a minimum of 15 overs. In matches where the start is delayed or play is interrupted by rain and the side batting second has not had the opportunity to receive the legislated number of overs - then the result shall be decided on the higher average run rate throughout the innings, provided that the second side batting has received at least 15 overs.
3. All games will be played with the specified competition ball, pitches will be 22 yards long and boundaries a maximum of 50 yards. Each innings will commence with a new ball. Tea will be taken between innings and the interval should not exceed 30 minutes.
With the following exceptions all County Championship matches will be played in accordance with the current M.C.C laws.
1. Prior to the start of the match, with the agreement of the umpires and managers, a runner may be requested for any batsmen with severe ambulatory problems. Runners must be members of the nominated team. Teams will be made up of eleven players and not more than three substitutes.
2. With regard to `Law 24 No Ball', any ball passing on the full above waist height whether the batsman is standing or seated will be called No Ball and dealt with accordingly.
3. With regard to `Law 42 Fair and Unfair Play' penalty runs will not apply.
4. Fielding Restrictions - No fielder shall be allowed to field closer than 11 yards from the middle stump, except behind the wicket on the off side, until the batsman has played the ball.
5. Wheelchairs or other walking aids etc. will be classed as a normal part of a batsman's equipment and will be treated as such with regard to `Law 36 LBW' and `Law 35 Hit Wicket'.
6. When fielding, wheelchairs and walking aids may be used to field the ball without penalty under `Law 41 Illegal Fielding'.
7. A ball struck by the batsman which rebounds from his wheelchair and is caught by any member of the fielding side without being grounded before or after hitting the wheelchair, will be considered a fair catch. However, a ball which lodges or rests in or on a wheelchair will not constitute fair catch.
8. All players under the age of 18 MUST wear a helmet with a face guard when batting or when standing up when keeping wicket. Parental consent not to do so will not be accepted by the BACD and counties MUST enforce this rule without exception. This rule applies to both hardball and incrediball.
The League tables will be made up of North and South Divisions and there will be Hardball and Incrediball Leagues.
The points systems for both leagues will be the same.
Points will be awarded as follows:
The team that wins the match: 25 points
The losing Team only, will gain bonus points as follows:
1 point for scoring 50 runs and one further point for each 25 runs scored up to a maximum of 150 runs (5 points)
1 point for every two wickets taken up to a maximum of 5 points (10 wickets taken)
Abandoned games will attract 6 points for each team and any bonus points accrued at the time of abandonment.
Cancelled games due to weather, where there has been no start 6 points each team
Cancelled games where a team are unable to fulfil the fixture – offending team will receive a penalty of a 10 point deduction. Non Offending team will receive 25 points.
Re-arranged games must be communicated to the BACD within 14 days of the original published date; failure to INFORM do so will incur a 5 point penalty. All fixtures should be completed by the first Sunday in August.
Result sheets must be received by the Friday following the match in question – failure to do so will incur a 5 point penalty for the HOME team.
Incomplete result sheets will incur a further 2 point deduction for the both teams. Unreported games will result in 5 points deduction for the HOME team. A game is deemed to be unreported if the result sheet is not received by the Friday following the fixture. Points will be deducted at that time. Subsequent receipt of the result sheet does not mean that any points deducted will be re-instated
AGE: |
MAX OVERS PER SPELL |
MAX OVERS PER DAY |
Up to 13 |
5 overs per spell |
10 overs per day |
U14, U15 |
6 overs per spell |
12 overs per day |
U16, U17 |
7 overs per spell |
18 overs per day |
U18, U19 |
7 overs per spell |
18 overs per day |
Having completed a spell the bowler cannot bowl again, from either end, until the equivalent number of overs to the length of his spell has been bowled from the same end.
If play is interrupted, for any reason, for less than 40 minutes any spell in progress at the time of the interruption can be continued after the interruption up to the maximum number of overs per spell for the appropriate age group.
If the spell is not continued after the interruption the bowler cannot bowl again, from either end, until the equivalent number of overs to the length of his spell before the interruption have been bowled from the same end.
If the interruption is of 40 minutes or more, whether scheduled or not, the bowler can commence a new spell immediately.
Once a bowler covered by these Directives has bowled in a match he cannot exceed the maximum number overs per day for his age group even if he subsequently bowls slowly.
He can exceed the maximum overs per spell if bowling slowly, but cannot then revert to bowling fast until an equivalent number of overs to the length of his spell have been bowled from the same end.
If he bowls slow without exceeding the maximum number of overs in a spell the maximum will apply as soon as he reverts to bowling fast.
Captains, Team Managers and Umpires are asked to ensure that these Directives are followed at all times
ADMINISTRATION ADDRESSES
All registration forms, all match results and any enquiries relating to the general running of the competition should be directed to:-
Richard Hill
BACD Secetary & Chairman - Tournaments & Rules Sub-Committee.
25 Nutfield
Welwyn Garden City
Hertfordshire AL7 1UL
Tel: Home 01707 882236 Mobile: 07818 431144.
Email: Richard Hill
Enquiries and claims for match expenses should be made to:-
Tony Cook
BACD Treasurer
33 Anstruther Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham B76 1HX
Tel:0121 455 6608
Email:Tony Cook