KOOKABURRA
MID BUCKS CRICKET LEAGUE
(In
association with HAWKINSPORT & SON)
Instituted
1974
(Clubs please note that in all cases the Management Committee’s
decision is final)
The organisation shall be
called the Kookaburra Mid Bucks Cricket League (in association with Hawkinsport & Son).
The objects of the league
shall be to promote annual adult and youth leagues, knock-out competitions and
other cricket events, including representative matches.
The league will execute its
objectives fairly and without prejudice to age, gender, disability, race,
ethnic origin, creed, colour, social status and sexual orientation.
(a)
The League shall be open to all clubs whose playing
strength, playing areas, changing facilities and tea facilities meet the
standards laid down by the Management Committee or an Extraordinary General
Meeting.
(b)
Each member club must be affiliated to the Buckinghamshire
Cricket Association or, for those member clubs not located within
Buckinghamshire, the cricket association of the county in which they are
located.
(c)
Any member club wishing to withdraw from the league must
inform the League Secretary, in writing, before the 1st.October.
Each member club must pay an
annual subscription, as determined by the Management Committee, by March 1st
each year. The Management Committee shall have the power to raise additional
subscriptions on an annual basis. Any club failing to comply with this rule
will be fined the sum of £10.00
(a)
The management of the League shall be vested in a
Management Committee which shall consist of President, Chairman, General Secretary,
Fixture Secretary, Treasurer and ten members elected from clubs of the league.
(b)
All officials of the league shall retire annually, but
shall be eligible for re-election at the Annual General Meeting which shall be
held in December each year.
(c)
Each club must send a representative to an Annual
General Meeting and any Extraordinary General Meetings. Any member club not
represented at an Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting
will be fined £10.00
(d)
Each club shall be entitled to one vote on any matter
other than for the election of the Management Committee (see Constitution Rule
6j), or on any matter that only affects reserve teams when only clubs having a
reserve side shall be entitled to vote.
(e)
Any proposal put forward by a club must be seconded by
another club of the League.
(f)
Any proposed alteration to the Constitution or to the
Rules of Play must be put in writing and received by the General Secretary
before October 1st. The General Secretary shall circularise all
member clubs with these proposals no later than November 1st.
(g)
Extraordinary General Meetings can be called at the
written request of not less than five member clubs, or at the discretion of the
League President, League Chairman, or General Secretary.
(h)
The President, Chairman, General Secretary, Fixture
Secretary and Treasurer shall not be allowed to vote on any matter but the
chairman of the meeting shall have a casting vote in the event that the same
number of votes are cast for and against any motion.
(i)
A quorum of the Management Committee shall consist of
four members.
(j)
Candidates for a seat on the Management Committee must
be nominated by their member club. In the event of more than ten candidates
being nominated, ballot papers shall be prepared and voted upon at the Annual General
Meeting, each club to have ten votes. No club shall nominate more than one
representative for the Management Committee.
(k)
All decisions of the league shall be by simple
majority of the members present.
(l)
Any moneys received by the League Treasurer shall be
paid into the League’s account within seven days of receipt.
7.
POWERS OF THE
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
(a)
All questions of eligibility, qualification of
players, interpretation of rules, or any question in dispute not provided for
in these rules, shall be referred to the Management Committee, whose decision
shall be final.
(b)
Protests and disputes will only be considered by the
management committee when they are submitted in writing by a club’s secretary
and enclosed with a £25 lodgement fee. Formal written details together with the
lodgement fee must be sent to the league’s General Secretary within 5 days of
the event or dispute taking place. The club raising the issue must send a copy
of the details to all other clubs mentioned or involved in the protest or
dispute. A Disciplinary Sub Committee will be set up consisting of three
members of the management committee. The sub committee will fix a date, time
and venue to meet representatives of the disputing clubs within 14 days of the
event. The £25 lodgement fee will be returned if the protest or dispute is
upheld.
(c)
Any vacancies on the management committee shall be
advertised to all clubs to ensure that a full management committee exists at
all times.
8.
DIVISIONS
(a)
The competing teams shall be divided into a Premier,
First, Second and Third Division (and more if necessary).
(b)
Automatic promotion and relegation of the top two and
bottom two teams shall apply to all divisions, subject to the following:
§
No club shall have two teams in the same division. The
first team position shall take priority in the promotion and relegation status.
§
The Management Committee shall have the power to
override the normal promotion and relegation rules if they feel it necessary,
to be in the best overall interests of the league.
§
The placing of new teams entering the League shall be
at the discretion of the Management Committee.
§
Reserve teams shall be invited to be promoted to a
higher division, but will have the right to decline.
9.
CLUB SECRETARIES
(a) Each member club must
notify the General Secretary of the name and address of their respective club
secretary within fourteen days of any change being made.
(b) Club secretaries must reply to any official
correspondence from the League Officers within 28 days (unless otherwise
stated) of the date on the correspondence. Failure to do so will result in the
club being fined the sum of £10.00.
10.
THE LAWS OF CRICKET
All matches shall be played
under the Laws Of Cricket approved by the MCC (2000
Code 2nd Edition – 2003), except where the League Rules of Play
expressly state differently.
11.
FIXTURES
(a)
The fixtures list for each season shall be prepared as
soon as practical after the annual general meeting by the Fixture Secretary.
Each member club shall be supplied with a copy of their fixtures as soon as
they are completed by the Fixture Secretary.
(b)
If a club can foresee a problem with a fixture date
for the following season a written request must be submitted to the Fixture
Secretary before the Annual General Meeting.
(Notes: League matches always run from the first Saturday in May for a total of
18 weeks. The dates of league matches can not be altered.)
12.
REGISTRATION OF PLAYERS
(a)
Any bona fide member of a member club shall be allowed
to play for that club in matches organised by the League provided that the
player is registered with the league before competing in his first match in the
season concerned. For a player to be registered a fully completed league
signing on form must be sent to the General Secretary. Registration will be
completed by the General Secretary returning the countersigned portion of the
form to the registering club.
(b)
No player shall be allowed to be registered with more
than one member club in the same season. Players may however be transferred
(see constitution rule 13).
(c)
If a registered player plays regularly for a non
member club on a Saturday then special permission must be sought from the
league management committee before submitting a registration form. If a
registered player starts to play regularly for another club on a Saturday his
registration with this league will be immediately cancelled.
(d)
Special permission must be sought from the management
committee before registering a player who has received a payment or benefit in
kind in any form from any club or sponsor related to playing cricket. Before
registration will be considered the following details must be supplied to the
committee – nature of the financial reward, details of any club that the player
is currently playing for; details of other clubs that the player has played for
in the past five years.
(e)
Any club playing a non registered player in a league
match will be fined the sum of £5.00 per non registered player. The team
playing a non-registered player will be deemed to have scratched, and the match
awarded to their opponents by way of a walkover. Additional action by way of
additional monetary or points fines shall be at the discretion of the
Management Committee.
(f)
Any club playing a non registered player in a knockout
match will be fined the sum of £5.00 per non registered player and, subject to
Management Committee discretion the match will be awarded to their opponents.
(g)
Players must sign their own registration forms after
the Annual General Meeting preceding the start of the season. Each signed on
player will be given a registration number.
13.
TRANSFER OF PLAYERS
(a)
An application to transfer a player between clubs must
be signed by the player and the secretary of both clubs involved. The completed
transfer form must then be passed to the General Secretary. The transfer will
be completed by the General Secretary returning the countersigned portion of
the form to the registering club.
(b)
Only one transfer shall be allowed for each player in
any one season.
(c)
No transfers shall be allowed after August 1st
each year.
14.
UMPIRES AND SCORERS
(a)
Each team must provide its own umpire and scorer. For
league matches umpires must each be paid a minimum of £5.00 during the tea
interval. Should it be impossible to commence any match due to bad weather a
fee of £2.50 must be paid to each umpire.
(b)
Any club not providing an umpire for a league match
will have 3 points deducted and must pay the umpire in attendance the sum of
£10. The umpire present should be requested to officiate at the bowler’s end
for the duration of the match.
(c)
Any club not providing a scorer for a league match
will have 1 point deducted on each occasion and must pay the scorer in
attendance the sum of £5. Persistent offenders will be disciplined by the
Management Committee.
(d)
Umpires are required to complete a card at the end of
each match and send it to the Fixture Secretary. Notes on completion of the
card will be issued to clubs before the start of the season.
(e)
Umpires must not impose penalty runs for unfair play
but should indicate when they would have done so on the umpire’s card.
(f)
Umpires must be at least 18 years of age, unless they
have passed Part 1 of the Umpires Course run by the Bucks Association of
Umpires & Scorers. Scorers must be competent (See also constitution rule18)
15.
CONDITIONS
(a)
The home team must pitch the wickets at least 10
minutes before commencement time weather permitting.
(b)
No league match may be cancelled prior to Saturday. In
extreme weather conditions, league matches may be cancelled prior to
(c)
No game may be scratched without notifying the Fixture
Secretary and the opposition. The opposition must phone the captain of the team
scratching the match to confirm that the fixture has been scratched. Reserve
teams who are unable to field a full team and scratch a game on or before
Wednesday of a match shall incur no fine and the opposition will receive no ex-gratia payment provided that appropriate notification has
been given. Any team scratching three or more games during a season must
re-apply for membership at the next Annual General Meeting.
(d)
Should a team fail to put in an appearance for a
league match by
(e)
Any club failing to provide League approved balls in
accordance with the Rules of Play will be fined the sum of £10.00.
(f)
The home team must provide: table and chairs for
scorers, umpires coats in good condition, a visible scoreboard, and must ensure
that sawdust is available for the fielding team in wet conditions.
(g)
Boundary lines must be clearly marked on all
boundaries.
(h)
Any club fielding 9 or fewer players in any 1st
XI competition while on the same date fielding a full reserve XI will, subject
to Management Committee discretion, have all reserve XI points deducted for
that date. In the event of a club with two teams in the league only being able
to field one team, the first XI match shall take priority. The reserve XI match
for that date will therefore be scratched in accordance with constitution rule
15c.
(i)
The minimum number of players required to constitute a
team shall be 8. A team fielding fewer than 8 players at any time during a
match will automatically forfeit the match and be fined the sum of £25.00. The
game will be treated as a scratched game.
(j)
Captains must enter the names and registration numbers
of their team onto the result card before the start of each match. The card
shall then be passed to the scorers who shall enter the scores at the end of
the match. The names and registration numbers entered must be the identical to
those used on the registration form.
16.
TEAS
For a league match,
the home team must provide a free tea for the XI visiting players, the two
umpires and the two scorers.
17.
TROPHIES
(a)
The team obtaining the greatest number of points
during the season shall be champions of their respective division and shall
hold the challenge cup until the following season.
(b)
In the event of two or more teams tying for first
place the champion team shall be decided based on most wins, most winning draws,
most ties and then most losing draws. If more than one team is level after
these results have been taken into account then special play off games will be
held.
(c)
All trophies must be returned to the league secretary
suitably engraved by the holders, by July 31st each year.
18.
REPORT OF MATCHES
(a)
Both Home and Away teams are encouraged to submit
match results over the Internet using the league’s web site (www.midbuckscricket.org.uk)
ensuring that results are received by Sunday
(b)
At the conclusion of a league match, the two umpires
working as a team must jointly complete the card provided by the league scoring
the condition of the pitch; outfield; behaviour of the home team; behaviour of the away team,
together with any comments that they wish to make about the match. These cards
must then be sent to the fixture secretary. In the event of a team not having
an appointed umpire for the match, the club will not have the opportunity to
comment. Note guidance notes on marking
will be issued to umpires. Umpires are asked to indicate when penalty runs
would have been awarded for fair and unfair play even though these penalty runs
have not been implemented by the league.
19.
PUBLIC LIABILITY
All member clubs
must be insured for public liability.
20.
UNGENTLEMANLY
BEHAVIOUR
In order to reduce the element
of misbehaviour on the cricket field, any player reported for ungentlemanly behaviour, either by an Umpire or one of the
participating clubs, shall be subject to disciplinary action as determined by
the Management Committee. This could
include fines, deduction of points, or suspension.
21.
FINES
(a)
In addition to the fines specifically mentioned in
these rules, the Management Committee shall have the power to impose fines on
clubs for other offences, subject to a maximum of £10 per offence.
(b)
The Management Committee shall also have the power to
increase the fines imposed on persistent offenders of a rule, subject to a
maximum of double the normal sum.
(c)
Fines must be paid within 20 days of
notification. Failure to do so will
result in an automatic doubling of the fine and the deduction of points.
(d)
The level of fines shall normally be reviewed annually
by the Management Committee who shall present any proposed changes to the
Annual General Meeting for approval by the member clubs of the league.
22.
YOUNG CRICKETERS
The league fully
supports the ECB directives relating to young cricketers. Club captains are
responsible for ensuring that the following are complied with.
(a)
All players under 18 must wear a helmet when batting,
fielding close to the wicket or wicket keeping when standing up to the wicket.
(b)
Young fast bowlers must not be over-bowled. The
following guidelines should be observed – Up to Age 13 – maximum 4 overs per spell, 2 spells per match; Under 14 and Under 15
– maximum 5 overs per spell, 2 spells per match;
Under 16 and Under 17 –6 overs per spell, 3 spells
per match; Under 19 –7 overs per spell, 3 spells per
match.