Administrative Rules

A. Venue and Timings

All League matches shall be played at Fareham Leisure Centre, Park Lane, Fareham. All matches must be completed within the One Hour period laid down by the Committee. The Umpires shall allow the first innings to proceed for a period not exceeding 30 minutes and they shall call "Last Over" when in their judgement the completion of that over shall coincide with the end of the time limit. In the event of 12 overs not having been bowled the team batting second shall receive a maximum number of overs equal to that bowled to the side batting first.

The toss shall take place in the scorer's area between the courts, no later than fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled start, in the presence of an umpire to whom the team sheets shall be given. Team sheets may be changed, prior to the actual start of the match. If one captain is not present at the required time, the toss shall be forfeited to their opponent. If neither captain is present at the required time, both teams shall be deducted two points from their total. The Umpire present need not be one of those designated to the actual fixture. The Sports Hall clock shall be used in respect of timings. In the event of the Sports Hall clock being unavailable, the time piece used shall be at the discretion of the attending Umpire.

In the event of the court being available earlier than anticipated, the Umpires may decide that the match should start up to fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time. If neither team is ready to start at the designated time, for every part of and up to and including the next six minutes, one over shall be deducted from each innings of the match. If only one team is not ready to start, no deduction of overs shall be made from either innings. (Four points are to be deducted from the team(s) causing the game to be delayed.)

NOTE: Teams failing to fulfil a fixture or arriving with less than FOUR players plus a Scorer will be required to pay the Hall Hire charges for the lost hour of play, within 21 days of the date of the unfulfilled fixture. Failure of Clubs to pay for the Hall Hire within the specified dates will therefore incur a deduction of Four Points from their League points total. Match points will be awarded to the innocent team providing they have reported to the Umpires at the appropriate time. The innocent team will be awarded 12 points (win) + 5 points (bowling) + 5 points (batting) equalling a total of 22 points.

If a team is unable to fulfil a fixture and only realises this is the case on the Friday (or after) before the match is scheduled to be played, the Member Club must telephone their opposition and advise them of the situation. They must also telephone the Umpires' Coordinator. Emails and text messages are NOT sufficient in these circumstances. All contact numbers are available on the League website.

B. Arrangement of Matches

Dates and times shall be decided by the Fixture Secretary and approved by the Committee. All Member Clubs shall be notified by email when the fixtures are available on the website for their perusal. Any clashes or difficulties with dates and times of their club's fixtures have to be notified to the Fixture Secretary in writing (email acceptable) within 14 days of the publishing date otherwise, only in exceptional circumstances, will they be changed after this period has elapsed.

C. League Points

Match points will be allocated as follows:-

  • Winning Side: 12 Points
  • Losing Side: 0 Points
  • Tied Match: 6 Points
    Note – a Tied Match is one in which both teams score the same number of runs.

Bonus points will be allocated as follows:-

  • BATTING: 1 point on reaching 70 runs and subsequently 1 additional point on reaching 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, to the maximum of SIX points, i.e. runs over 120 do not attract bonus points. For a team batting second and winning, an additional point to make up to a maximum 6 batting points for every 1 wicket in hand at the close.
  • BOWLING: 1 point for every wicket taken. If the batting side has fewer than six players, and the situation arises where the absent player(s) would have been required to bat if present, each absent player is recorded as “absent out”, and included in both the total number of wickets lost and the number of bowling bonus points awarded. If a member of the batting side is present but unable to bat due to injury or illness, or retires hurt, that player is not individually regarded as being out; but if that player does not come in to bat when all the other members of the batting side have batted, and all but one have either retired or been dismissed, a wicket is counted, and a bowling bonus point awarded, for the player in question.

Withdrawals: The record of any team withdrawing from the League before the completion of its fixtures will be expunged and the points won by its opponents will be deducted from their totals. Teams withdrawing will also be liable to pay FULL laid down match fees for the fixture(s) cancelled through their withdrawal.

D. Promotion and Relegation

The number of teams to be promoted and relegated between each pair of adjacent divisions shall be specified by the Committee not later than the end of December in the relevant season. In the event of teams withdrawing from divisions other than the bottom one, the Committee shall direct how the vacancies thus caused shall be filled; in general, preference shall be given to promoting additional teams over not relegating relegated teams.

E. Clothing

All players (including Colts) shall wear normal accepted cricket clothing – shirts, trousers and socks – which may be of any colour including white. The colour of shirts and trousers must be uniform for all members of the same team. To avoid a clash with the colour of the ball, red kit may not be worn. Where an undershirt is worn whose sleeves are longer than those of the team shirt, it may be of any colour except red, and need not be uniform across a team.

If in doubt over the acceptability of a kit colour, please consult the Committee before wearing it. Pads worn by batters and wicketkeepers must be white.

Shoes may be of any colour, and need not be of uniform colour across a team. The rules of the Leisure Centre require that shoes worn must have non-marking soles.

All personal equipment – clothing, shoes, pads, gloves and helmets – must be in serviceable and clean condition.

F. Scoring

Clubs must familiarise themselves with the system of scoring used in the NCA National Indoor Six-A-Side Championship and as amended by this constitution.

G. Qualification of Players

  1. No player shall be eligible to play in the League if he has played First Class, List A limited overs or List A Twenty20 cricket (as defined in the ICC Classification of Official Cricket regulations currently in force) during the 12 months immediately preceding the start of the League season. However, a player who has only played such cricket for an MCC University side shall be eligible.
  2. Overseas Players: Only such overseas players as are qualified to play in the ECB Indoor Six-a-Side Championship under the rules currently in force will be permitted to play in the League.
  3. A professional cricketer, whether appointed to the club in question or to another club shall not be eligible to play.
  4. No player is eligible for selection unless he is a fully paid-up bona fide playing member of the club for which he is playing. No payments shall be made to players representing clubs in the League.
  5. No player may play for more than one side in the League. NOTE – ECB deem each team as a separate club.
  6. No player may play for a club in Division 1 of the League if, during the current season (from 1st September to 30th April), he has played in another indoor competition from which clubs may qualify for the National Indoor Competition.
  7. No Under-13 player is allowed to play in any senior match.
    Any Under-16 player who wishes to play in a senior match can only do so with written permission from their parent / guardian. Clubs are responsible for obtaining parental consent for any such player, and the team captain shall confirm that all required consents have been obtained by completing the appropriate details on the team sheet.
    All players aged under 18 participating in a senior game must wear a helmet when fielding within the 'No Ball' line at time of delivery.
  8. A player who does not meet the above eligibility requirements may be granted permission to play, if the Committee considers that his or her exclusion would be contrary to the spirit of the eligibility rules.
  9. If eligibility is in doubt, it is strongly recommended that permission is granted by the League prior to their first appearance. This is to make sure that no rules are infringed and that no subsequent sanctions will apply.
  10. Club cricketers are allowed to represent their firm's team providing they are employees of that firm.

H. Umpires and Scorers

Umpires shall be appointed by the Committee unless clubs are advised to the contrary. Competent scorers will be provided by the team and shall not be playing in the match. Match report sheets will be completed by the HOME team and will be sent to the Fixture Secretary either , in which case they must be received by 9pm on the TUESDAY following the match, or by post, in which case they must be received by 6pm on the THURSDAY following the match. The team responsible for ensuring delivery should not assume that has happened until receipt is acknowledged or the result appears on the website. In the event of the Fixture Secretary failing to receive the Match Report within this timescale then a warning will be issued for the team's first offence of the season. For any subsequent offence, a fine of £10.00 will be levied and must be paid within 21 days of its being requested by the Fixture Secretary. Failure of clubs to pay the fine within the specified dates will therefore incur a deduction of Four Points from their League points total.

If a team fails to provide a competent scorer when the captain reports to the Umpires at the start of the match then he shall nominate one of his players to act as scorer for the match and he shall not be allowed to take part in the match.

I. The Ball

The Reader Indoor Cricket Ball shall be used for all matches and will be supplied by the League.

J. Duty Team

A Duty Team shall be rostered on the website by the Fixture Secretary to provide for manning of both scoreboards throughout the evening senior programme. The Duty Team must be in attendance at all times during senior play and ensure that the scoreboards show the up-to-date situation of the game in progress. The Duty Team shall be drawn from Member Clubs of all senior divisions, but teams from any Member Club that supplies a member of the Committee and / or an Umpire may be excused from the Duty Rota, at the discretion of the Committee.

PENALTIES: In the event of the Duty Team being reported by the Umpires of a match that no scoreboard service was provided by the Duty Team, then ONE point shall be deducted from the playing record of the Duty Team for EACH MATCH so reported by the Umpires, up to a maximum of EIGHT points in any one evening. In addition, the Committee reserves the right to double and / or defer the penalty to the following season's points total if the absence is perceived to be because of an apathetic attitude to their responsibilities.

The Duty Team rota shall also be used for the supply of Umpires when required. Duty Teams will supply a competent Umpire to stand at square leg when required to so by the Umpires Co-ordinator. They will be given at least 7 days’ notice when they are required. Failure to attend will result in a SIX point deduction per match.

In the event of the Duty Umpire failing to attend, a batter will stand at square leg before or after his innings without penalty to the team.

K. Social Media

Member Clubs will be held responsible for any comments published through the media, including but not limited to the internet, including derogatory comments about the League, its Officers and Committee, Umpires, Scorers, other Member Clubs and Players.