Download 2006-07 Social League Rules - [MS Word - 70KB]

Note: Except as specified, the Laws of Cricket (2000 Code 2nd Edition - 2003) shall apply.

Squads and Eligibility:

1. The following players will be considered ineligible to play for the ICCA Social League Teams

a) Players featuring in the Top 20 batsmen or bowlers of the 2005-2006 HKCA Saturday league and/or 2006-2007 HKCA Saturday League: and

Any player who has played 3 or more games in the 2005-2006 HKCA Sunday league and 2006-2007 HKCA Sunday League.

In normal circumstances, the above players will NOT be permitted to play in the ICCA Social League, except with the prior approval of the Social League Committee before the start of the season.

To view the top 20 list, kindly see the statistics page on the HKCA web-site. The teams are also encouraged to keep track of the rankings on a regular basis, as the same are updated periodically.

It will be the responsibility of the respective captains to ensure that they do not have a player who is in contravention of the above rules as of the date of the match.

Any breach of the above rules will automatically lead to points being forfeited by the offending team and the other team being declared the winners. There will be no appeal on this matter.

b) A player may not play for more than one team in the competition, without the prior written permission of the Social League Committee.

c) Players can only transfer from one team to another after approval from the Social League Committee. Applications for transfer may be submitted in writing to the Social League Committee at least 72 hours before the transfer is to take effect. This must be accompanied by the written approval of the captain of the player’s previous team and a full explanation of the reason for the transfer by the applicant captain. Breaches of this rule will be referred to the Social League Committee, which may impose appropriate sanctions including the forfeiting of points.

Duration of Matches:

2. a) Each match shall take no more than 4.5 hours. The first innings of each match should last no longer than 2 hours (15 overs per hour). If the required number of overs (see point 6 below) has not been bowled at 2 hours, with good cause, the number of overs to be bowled in the second innings shall be the number of overs completed at 2 hours in the first innings. However, each innings must comprise at least 15 overs in order to constitute a match.

b) If, without good cause, the bowling side fails to complete 30 overs within two hours, the innings shall be extended until 30 overs are completed and the second innings restricted to the number of overs completed at the scheduled time. I.e. If the bowling team takes 2 hrs and 10 mins to finish their 30 overs, the second innings will only get overs lasting 1 hr 50 mins to chase the runs (in 27overs / 4 mins per over). The over in progress at the scheduled time shall count as a completed over.

c) If the team fielding second fails to bowl the required number of overs, without good cause, in two hours, the game will conclude and the result decided by superior net run rate as Rule 23 (a).

d) Only the Umpire and in his absence the batting captain can interpret Good Cause.

e) In the event of a match starting late it must nevertheless finish at the scheduled finish time. The number of overs to be played should be reduced by the agreement of opposing captains before the start of the match to facilitate the match finishing on time

f) There will be a 20-minute break between innings for all matches at all venues, except for morning matches at Sandy Bay where the break will be 10 minutes.

3. Any team that has assembled less than 6 players by twenty minutes after the scheduled start time for the match will, at the opposing captain's discretion, forfeit the match. Captains have to reduce the appropriate number of overs. The opposition team can insist to start the game on the scheduled time as soon as 6 players have assembled.

4. Any team that has assembled six or more players will be entitled to contest the match. An opposing captain may, at their discretion, lend fielders to the outnumbered team, but has no obligation to do so. No batsman can bat twice (unless he has retired – see point 5 below).

Batting Restrictions:

5. Batsmen retire on scoring 35 runs and can return to bat again if all the remaining batsmen are out. If more than one batsman has retired, they must come in to bat again in the same order that they batted earlier. Batsmen cannot retire prior to scoring 35 for any reason other than getting injured or retired out.

6. Each innings shall consist of 30 overs per team.

Bowling Restrictions:

7. Bowlers are permitted to bowl a maximum of 6 overs per bowler.

8. All overs shall be bowled from one end.

Fielding restrictions:

9. No more than 4 fielders may be placed on the leg side.

10. Eleven players may be on the field at any one time, with substitutes allowed only in the case of injury or other external circumstances. Teams must inform the umpires and opposition captain before bringing on substitutes.

Balls

11. Only yellow cricket balls approved by the Social League Committee (SLC) are to be used in each match. Each team is responsible for provided a new SLC-approved ball for their fielding innings. If they are unable to do so, they should use an older yellow ball.

Overs

12. a) Should a bowler become incapacitated, another bowler may complete the over. A part of an over counts as a completed over for the purpose of calculating how many overs a bowler has bowled in matches where restrictions on the number of overs per bowler apply. A part of an over does not count as a completed over for any other purposes (e.g. total number of overs bowled by the team, statistical purposes, etc.).

b) It shall be the responsibility of the captain of the fielding side to ensure that no bowler exceeds the permitted number of overs.

Wides:

13. In the event of a wide, 1 run shall be added to the total plus any byes run and an extra ball shall be bowled. If a wide goes to the boundary, 4 runs will be added to the total.

14. Opposing captains are requested to agree before the commencement of each match regarding a consistent interpretation of what constitutes a wide.

No Balls:

15. In the event of a no ball, 1 run shall be added to the total plus any runs scored and an extra ball shall be bowled.

16. Deliveries bouncing over shoulder height of the batsman in his batting stance at the line of the crease, and full tosses above waist height in his batting stance at the line of the crease, shall be called no ball by the square leg umpire or the umpire at the bowler's end.

Umpires

17. The Social League Committee will provide one neutral umpire, where possible, for all games. The Batting team must provide the Square- Leg Umpire; The Neutral Umpire can over-rule the square-leg umpire. If the Social League Committee is unable to provide any umpire, the batting team will provide umpires for their batting innings at both ends.

Scoresheets, Competition Points and Trophies:

18. Winning captains must e-mail results and Man-of-the-Match decisions to the Fixture Secretary of the Social League Committee by the following working day

19. Competition Points shall be allocated as follows:

• Win: 2 points
• Tie/Washout: 1 point
• Loss: 0 points

If teams have the same number of points at the end of the season, then the position is shared. This applies to all positions, including the championship position.

20. The team with the highest number of points at the end of each season will be awarded the Rahuman Farcy trophy. If more than one team is in the winning position, then the trophy will be rotated among those teams. There will be a Replica Trophy as well as 15 gold medals for winners and 15 silver medals for runners-up.

21. There will also be a ‘Player of the League’ trophy, awarded to the player with the most Man-of-the-Match (MoM) decisions over the course of the season. If there is more than one player with the same number of MoMs, the award will go to the player in the higher ranked team on the points table. If more than one player has same number of MoMs and the teams concerned have the same number of points, the award will go the player whose team beat the other team(s) in their head-to-head match(es). If it is still impossible to find a winner, the matter will be decided at a Social League meeting.

Uniforms:

22. Team uniforms are allowed. If teams do not have uniforms, then all whites is recommended.

Abandoned Matches

23. a) In the event of play being stopped due to adverse conditions, a 'match' is constituted by the completion of not less than 15 overs of the second innings. Matches abandoned prior to this point will be 'no result'. In the event of at least 15 overs being played in the second innings, the match result will be determined by the run rate. This is to be calculated by dividing the total number of runs scored by the total number of balls bowled – note that wides and no balls should not be included in the calculations, i.e. only 6 balls should be counted per over.

b) Matches may be abandoned due only to bad weather or unsuitable pitch conditions, not less than two hours prior to the schedule match start time and with the agreement of both captains, or at the ground.

c) If any League match is adversely affected by weather or ground conditions to the extent that a result cannot be achieved, the points for that game shall be shared equally between the teams.

d) Abandoned matches will not normally be rescheduled.

Postponement of Matches

24. Postponements of league matches and changes of venue will not be permitted under normal circumstances. Requests for blank dates and other particular arrangements must be made before the season commences except as provided for in the rules. Player(s)’ availability will not be considered a good reason to postpone or change any fixture. In exceptional circumstances, requests may be made to the Social League Committee, whose decision shall be final.

Ground, Weather and Light

25. If matches are washed out due to rain, the match result will be considered as a washout, with each team getting a point. In no circumstance will the match be rescheduled due to lack of grounds.

26. Before the toss has taken place, the decision with regard to the fitness of the ground will rest with the authority responsible for the maintenance of the ground, or in the absence of the ground authority, the team captains. After the toss has taken place, the captains shall be the sole judges as to whether conditions are fit for play.

Rain Rule

27. Games will only be cancelled by default when its BLACK RAIN WARNING or TYPHOON SIGNAL NO 8 or above.

28. During inclement weather conditions, if both captains cannot agree beforehand on whether play would be possible, then both the teams have to be present on the ground to make the decision. If a team refuses and/or does not turn up at the appointed time at the ground, they then will forfeit the game.

29. If it rains during a match, the decision on whether the ground is suitable to play lies with:

1) Neutral Umpires, if present, or

2) On the agreement of both the Team Captains.

If the conditions during a rain stoppage improve and the rain is reduced to drizzle, the captains shall consider if play should resume and try their best to complete the game (please refer to point 23 above).

If it rains during middle of the match and both captains cannot agree then both teams have to stay till then end of the scheduled play time in case the condition improve and there is enough playing time to constitute a result. (again please refer to point 23 above).

Captains are encouraged to make every effort to play and complete the games as far as possible given the fact that teams and players do travel a long way to come to the ground.

Captains are also reminded to take note of Rule 23 above, which allows for 15 overs a side matches to be considered as a proper match. Both team captains have to agree to play the same number of reduced over match.

If the matter still cannot be resolved then the case/dispute has to be handed over to the Social League Committee, who will then make a decision which will be binding on both the teams.

Players' Code of Conduct

30. a) Everyone on the field shall ensure that the match is conducted within the laws of cricket and the spirit of the game.

b) No player shall fail to comply with the instructions of an umpire, criticize his decision by word or action, show dissent or generally behave in a manner, on or off the field, which may cause embarrassment to an umpire or to the Social League Committee.

c) Smoking is prohibited on the field.

d) If a player is guilty of unacceptable behavior, he can be reported to the Social League Committee. Examples of unacceptable behavior include:

• A player assaulting or attempting to assault an umpire, another player, spectator or official.
• Abusing an umpire or disputing (as distinct from questioning) an umpire's decision or reacting in an obviously provocative or disapproving manner by word or action either towards an umpire, his decision or generally following an umpire's decision. This includes a batsman lingering at the wicket after being dismissed.
• Use of crude or abusive language or engaging in conduct detrimental to the spirit of the game.
• Excessive appealing or any actions or words that may be construed as an attempt to influence an umpire’s decision.
• Abusing players on the field or making derogatory remarks about the opposition. 'Sledging' is not condoned by the Social League Committee and shall be interpreted as contrary to this code and the spirit of the game.

Disputes & Disciplinary Matters

31. All disputes and disciplinary matters can be referred to the Social League Committee, whose decision will be final. The Social League Committee comprises of representative(s) from the playing teams , i.e. of the current 12 teams (12 votes, comprising of a vote for each playing team) will have the final say in relation to the settlement of all matters.

To streamline the process, a Quorum of five (5) voting members are required to settle any dispute. The Quorum will be exclusive of the disputing teams (with both the disputing teams to be present on the day for further deliberations), and will have the power and authority to settle the disputes amicably and/or posing appropriate sanctions on offending teams. Once a decision has been made, it will be binding on both teams with no further recourse of action.

ANY BREACH OF THIS CODE IS LIABLE TO ACTION BY THE SOCIAL LEAGUE COMMITTEE AND MAY RESULT IN SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION FROM THE LEAGUE.