Hong Kong Cricket Association

a) Kookaburra red four-piece balls, 156 gms, shall be used and provided by the home side. The home captain must ensure a sufficient supply of spare balls of varying degrees of wear.

b) A new ball shall be used at the start of each new innings.

3. Innings

a) Matches shall be of two-days’ duration.

b) There shall be two innings per side. The first innings shall comprise of 60 overs and the second innings of 40 overs.

c) Any number of whole overs unused in the first innings may be carried over to the next innings in the following way:

The side fielding first, if it dismisses the batting side in less than the full quota of 60 overs, shall acquire any whole unused overs to be used in their first innings. If the side batting second is dismissed in less than their full quota of overs, including any acquired overs, any whole unused overs shall be carried over and divided equally between the two sides in their second innings. An odd number of overs is to be rounded down.

Example: Side A, batting first, is dismissed in 49.2 overs. Side B then has a total of 70 overs in which to bat in their first innings (60 plus 10 whole unused overs). Side B is dismissed in 39 overs. Thirty-one overs are unused (70 minus 39). Rounded down to the nearest even number, 30 overs are then divided between the two second innings, ie. each side now has 55 overs to bat (40 plus 15).

4. The Follow-on

In a two innings match of two days, the side which bats first and leads by at least 100 runs shall have the option of requiring the other side to follow their innings.

5. Declaration and Forfeiture

Law 14 shall apply.

6. Intervals

a) There shall be a ten-minute interval between innings.

b) The lunch interval shall be of 40 minutes duration.

c) The tea interval shall be of 20 minutes duration.

d) Tea interval - 9 wickets down
If at the scheduled time for the tea interval, the ninth wicket of the innings in progress is already down, or it falls at, or after that time, or falls when less than two minutes remain before that time, play will continue for a period of 30 minutes unless the players have cause to leave the field of play, or the innings is concluded earlier.

e) Intervals for Drinks

i) A drinks break of no more than five minutes shall be taken at the end of every hour’s play.
ii) Under conditions of extreme heat the umpires may permit extra intervals for drinks. The duration of these should be kept to a minimum and the time noted by the umpires and taken into consideration in the calculation of over-rate penalties (see Rule 9).
iii) An individual player may be given a drink either on the boundary edge or at the fall of a wicket, on the field, provided that no playing time is wasted. No other drinks shall be taken onto the field without the permission of the umpires.

7. Number of Overs per Bowler

There shall be no limit on the number of overs any individual bowler may bowl in an innings.

8. Scoring of Points

a) For a win, 14 points, plus any points scored in the first innings.

b) In a tie, each side to score seven points, plus any points scored in the first innings.

c) In a drawn match, each side to score four points, plus any points scored in the first innings.

d) First Innings Points (awarded only for performances in the first innings and retainedwhatever the result of the match).

i) A maximum of five batting points to be available as under:

170 to 199 runs – 1 point
200 to 249 runs – 2 points
250 to 299 runs – 3 points
300 to 349 runs – 4 points
350 runs or over – 5 points

ii) A maximum of five bowling points to be available as under:

1 to 2 wickets taken – 1 point
3 to 4 wickets taken – 2 points
5 to 6 wickets taken – 3 points
7 to 8 wickets taken – 4 points
9 to 10 wickets taken – 5 points

For the avoidance of doubt, "wickets taken" shall relate exclusively to batsmen dismissed under Laws 30 to 39 inclusive and to batsmen retired out.

e) If a match is abandoned without a ball being bowled, each side to score four points.

f) The side which has the highest aggregate of points gained at the end of the season shall be the Super League Champions. Should any sides in the League table be equal on points, the following tie-breakers will be applied in the order stated: most wins, fewest losses, team achieving most points in contests between teams level on points, most wickets taken, most runs scored.

9. Super League Over-Rate Penalties

The minimum over rate to be achieved will be 16 overs per hour. When calculating the over rate, two minutes will be allowed for each wicket taken which results in the subsequent batsman immediately commencing his innings. For the avoidance of doubt, no allowance shall be given for the final wicket in an innings or for a wicket that falls prior to any interval.

Allowances shall be given for drinks intervals. Any suspension of play for an injury to a player or for any other reason beyond the control of the players shall be a deductible allowance.

The umpire at the bowler's end will inform the fielding captain, the batsman and his fellow umpire of any time allowances as and when they arise and the scorers at the earliest opportunity. (This matter will not be subject to retrospective negotiation). Overs will be calculated at the end of the match and penalties applied on a match by match basis. The relevant calculation to establish the match target is:

Total minutes in the field, minus two minutes per allowable wicket, minus umpires' allowances, divided by 3.75 (fractions to be ignored).

For example, a side that has been in the field for 491 minutes throughout the course of the match and that has taken 18 allowable wickets and been allowed ten minutes by the umpires, has a match target of (491-36-10)/3.75 = 118.67 overs. Ignoring fractions, the match target is 118 overs. For each over (fractions to be ignored) that a side has bowled short of the target number, one point will be deducted from their Championship total as follows:

1 over short of the match target – 1 point deduction
2 overs short of the match target – 2 points deduction, etc.

Only matches in which a team has bowled for four hours or more (net of time allowed for wickets taken and umpires' allowances) in the match will be subject to over-rate penalties.

10. League Champions

At the conclusion of the season, if the top teams have the same number of points, the following will be the order of preference for deciding the League Champions:

a) Team with most wins

b) Team with fewest lost matches

c) Team with most bonus points

d) Team with least penalty points

Should all the above remain identical, the Championship will be awarded to the winners of the most recent League match between the relevant teams. If still undecided, a playoff game will be arranged, if possible. Otherwise, the Championship will be shared.