Each club shall only be permitted to enter one team to the league.
a. Clubs shall be limited to one overseas player registered with the Central Essex Sunday League who must not have played first class cricket in the previous five calendar years and must be registered with the League Secretary before the first day of the season. NOTE - An overseas player is defined as a player who is not eligible to play for
b. No players shall be allowed to play in any division of the League for more than one club in the League matches in one season, unless transferred by
the sanction of the Management Committee (see Rule 17).
c. Any club playing ineligible players will (at the absolute discretion of the Management Committee) lose any points gained from any games in which such
players take part and will in addition lose 2 points from each such game.
ii) Any breach of this rule may result in relegation to a lower division of the League and may result in expulsion from the League.
A player will be considered to be registered with a club, once they have represented a club in a league encounter on one occasion.
i) A player may claim a transfer from the club he is registered with to another club if he is omitted from the team on 2 consecutive league matches or
by giving satisfactory reasons to the Management Committee. ii) This rule shall be left to the discretion of the Management Committee, but no player may be transferred after the 1st August without the approval of either the Management Committee or the League Secretary. iii) Before a player can apply for a transfer he must have paid his subscription for the current season to the club he is seeking to leave. iv) No transfer shall be necessary and the earlier provisions of this Rule shall not apply if a player has not played in the League during the season in question.
a. Clubs are not allowed to pay the subscriptions, honorarium or travelling expenses - MONETARY OR IN KIND - for any player, and, no League player may receive remuneration for playing from ANY SOURCE WHATSOEVER.
b. It is the absolute responsibility of the Club Chairmen to make all necessary enquiries and investigations as to eligibility of overseas players (see Rule
2 a above) and as to unqualified compliance with Rule 5 a above. Failure to provide such confirmation as required above or any other breach of this
Rule shall be penalised at the discretion of the Disciplinary Panel. ANY breach of this rule may result in relegation to a lower division of the League and
may result in expulsion from the League. Alleged breaches of this Rule will be dealt with in accordance with League’s Disciplinary Procedures.
c. On receipt of a complaint under Rule 5 and at the request of the League treasurer any club must make available for his inspection the books of
account, cheque books, cheque book stubs, bank statements and Emails.
All correspondence relating to the engagement of a player must be retained by clubs for at least 12 months
a. All matches shall begin at 2 p.m.
b. All grounds shall be marked and rolled and the toss be made no later than 15 minutes before the start of the game.
c. Teams shall be on the field, ready to commence play no later than 5 minutes after the time play is scheduled to commence. Any team reported for
being late without due reason may be fined at the discretion of the Management Committee.
d. Each team may bat 40 overs unless all available batsmen have been dismissed or a declaration made. The team scoring the most runs after both
innings have been completed shall be the winner.
e. No bowler may bowl more than 8 overs in any one innings.
f. If a player fails to take the field at the start of an innings and the absence is longer than 15 minutes he shall not be allowed to bowl until he has been on
the field for at least the number of overs for which he was absent. Players who absent themselves from the field of play once the game has commenced
and are off the field for any reason other than injury or illness provided that the absence is more than 15 minutes duration shall not be allowed to bowl
for at least the same amount of time (in overs) as that of their absence.
g. The tea interval shall be no longer than 30 minutes.
h. There will be no time limit on the termination of the 2nd innings except when the weather has intervened. (See Rule 7 below).
a. In the event of a delayed start, or interruption caused by the weather during the innings of the team batting first, 1 over will be deducted from EACH
innings for every 6 minutes lost.
b. No match shall consist of less than 15 overs for each team.
c. No match will commence after 4:30pm
d. If weather has intervened and there is a consensus between both teams and the umpires, the time taken for tea may be reduced by such period as the
parties decide. For the avoidance of doubt this shall include provision to allow for the second innings to take place before the tea interval or for tea to
be taken before the first innings commences if necessary, in order to try and have a match and obtain a positive result.
a. All matches will be arranged to take place on Sundays between the 1st Sunday in May and the last Sunday in August.
b. i) The home-side must provide one match ball for use in each game, and make it available for inspection by the umpires prior to the start of the match.
ii) The ball to be used throughout the League is the Warsop Stebbing League Special and should be identifiable as such.
iii) In the event of there being no independent umpires, the home captain should have the match ball available for inspection by his counterpart when the toss is made.
c. Standard wickets must be used in all matches.
d. If wicket covers are available then the wicket may be wholly covered during any interruption due to the weather.
e. In the event of a bowler being unable to complete an over for any reason, the captain of the fielding side shall depute another player to complete the
over. This player cannot be the player who bowled the over immediately prior to the over in progress nor can he bowl the next one. All disputes relating
to any part of the Rule shall be disciplinary matters and shall be dealt with under the League Disciplinary Procedures.
Points shall be scored as follows:
4 points for a win
2 points for a tie / no result
0 points for a defeat
10. Notification of Results
a. After each match both sides shall telephone, fax or email the result of their match to the Results Secretary no later than 10:00pm on the match day.
b. When communicating the results, each side must state the top-three batting performances in each innings and the top-two bowling performances and provide any other relevant contributions at their discretion.
c. Clubs failing to communicate their results correctly and on-time will face a 1 point deduction.
a. In the event of wet weather, both teams must be in agreement that conditions are unsuitable for cricket.
b. A proposal of cancellation by the home side must be made to a responsible official of the visiting side.
c. Any proposal of cancellation by the home side must be made on the DAY OF THE MATCH no later than two hours before the scheduled start.
d. In the absence of any proposal of cancellation, or if both teams are not in agreement, both teams must be on the field of play 15 minutes before the
scheduled start when the umpires or captains will be sole judges as to whether the ground is fit for play.
e. In the absence of umpires, the captains must be in agreement as to whether the ground is fit for play prior to the commencement of the match and
during the course of the match.
f. Any team leaving the ground prior to 4:30pm without the consent of the opposing captain (when league or club umpires are not officiating) will have 4
points deducted. The non-offending team will be awarded 4 points.
g. The home club is responsible for notifying the umpires of any cancellation. This notification must be made no later than 90 minutes before the
scheduled start.
h. Teams cancelling matches for reasons other than the weather or other exceptional circumstances (agreed by the Disciplinary Panel) have 4 points
deducted. The non-offending team will be awarded 4 points.
i. Any team persistently failing to fulfil its fixtures or persistently breaching Rule 11(h) above may be expelled from the league.
a. In each division the team gaining the highest number of points shall be adjudged the Champions of the Division.
b. At the end of each season the top team in each Division (with the exception of Division 1) will be promoted and the bottom team in each Division
(with the exception of the bottom division) will be relegated
c. Should a Club withdraw a team from the League after September 30th the Management Committee shall act to re-instate the establishment of the
division prior to the commencement of the next season.
d. In the event that two or more teams tie for the Championship, promotion or relegation, the following shall apply:- i) The side with the highest net run
rate will take precedence ii) if still equal, the side with the greater number of wins will take precedence iii) if still equal, the side with the greater number
of away wins will take precedence iv) if still equal, the side with the best head-to-head record will take precedence v) if still equal, the Management
Committee will decide on the team to take precedence.
a. A trophy will be presented to the Champions of each division of the League.
b. Trophies shall be held until the 31st August of the following season, by which date they shall be returned to the League Secretary.
i. Questions of eligibility, qualification of players or interpretation of the Rules shall be referred to the Disciplinary Panel (through the secretary) who shall consider whether a prima facie case exists in accordance with the League Disciplinary Procedures, or whether they should take no action except to record the matter, or in the case of a player, official or supporter to refer the matter to the Club concerned. Any interested party may report matters of eligibility, qualification or interpretation of the Rules, which shall include disputes as to discretionary penalties imposed under these rules to the Management Committee or to the Disciplinary Panel, or the Management Committee may institute proceedings at its own behest. All questions and disputes relating to eligibility, qualification of players and interpretation of the Rules shall be submitted to the Secretary within 7 days of the incident giving rise to such questions or disputes but shall not require a fee.
ii. Any dispute having reference to the Laws of Cricket shall be referred by the Management Committee (through the Secretary) to the E.C.B. for settlement. All non-administrative matters which may result in a fine or a deduction of points shall be referred to the Disciplinary Panel, in particular breaches of Paragraph 1 of the ECB Code of Conduct and Spirit of Cricket. Matters dealt with by way of fixed penalties within these rules are administrative matters and are final. Where these rules provide for fine or points deduction to be handed out at the discretion of the Management Committee, a right to protest exists, in which case the Management Committee must then refer the matter to the Disciplinary Panel under the League Disciplinary Procedures.
All clubs must have a first aid kit in its pavilion.
Neutral umpires will not be appointed by the league.
a. i) In the absence of neutral umpires, each club has the option to supply ONE ‘non-playing umpire’. Any appointment of ‘non-playing umpires’ must
be communicated to the opposition captain BEFORE the toss.
ii)In the absence of a non-playing umpire(s), the batting-side will supply umpire(s) for their innings as appropriate.
b. If any umpire is complained of twice for giving unfair decisions and the Disciplinary Panel sustains such complaints the offending umpire shall be
suspended for the rest of the season.
c. If an umpire decides to report a player or team to the Management Committee he/she must inform the captain of the offending team before leaving the
ground.
It is the responsibility of both captains to ensure the accuracy of score-keeping.
a. The home side is responsible for supplying a suitable tea.
b. If a club fails to provide a tea, it will be considered a disciplinary matter, and will be fined a minimum of £35, and face a minimum 1 point deduction.
c. If a club is reported for supplying a sub-standard tea on 3 or more occasions, the club may be fined or deducted points at the discretion of the Disciplinary Committee.