Bassetlaw League rule changes for 2007
by Paul Barker, 21st November 2006

A number of motions were put forward with ten of these proposed by the Management Committee. The first one was presented by this organisation and proposed an amendment to Rule 1.2.

1. This stated that ‘The subscription from each club shall be £75.00 per team, per annum to be paid not later than 31st May in any year. Any club failing to comply with this rule shall be fined £5.00 for the first month or part of the month after this date and £20.00 for every month, or part of a month, thereafter that the subscription remains unpaid.
2. Those clubs providing the necessary umpires (Rule 6.4) to stand on at least 50% of the playing dates in a season to be given a rebate of £50.00 per team at the end of the season.

The chairman Mr. Jim Garton explained that this system worked when tried in the South Yorkshire league and after a lively discussion the motion was rejected by the member clubs.

The second proposal was again presented by the Management Committee and concerned Rule 2.3 (iv)

1. No team shall be admitted to Division One for the 2008 season onwards unless the club provides the required number of umpires. This rule to apply to teams seeking promotion to Division One and those relegated from the Premier League, such team to play in Division Two.

Once again this motion was rejected by the members.  

The third proposal by the Management Committee was that Rule 2.7 (iv) be amended to read; Progressive fines none exceeding £20.00 shall be imposed for non-compliance with any part of this rule was carried.

The fourth rule proposed by Holmewood Cricket Club again concerned Rule 2.7 and stated;

       (iii)        The home club will communicate the details of each game (in accordance with the leagues instructions) to a notified telephone number by 10.00 p.m. on the day of the match..

1. A fine not exceeding £5.00 shall be imposed for non compliance with Rules 2.7 (i) and (ii)
2. Failure to comply with Rule 2.7 (iii) will result in the offending home club being deducted 5 points.

This motion was rejected by the membership.

Holmewood Cricket Club then proposed the following new Rule 2.8. which stated that;

For the 2007 season the league will trial the use of the Play-Cricket web-site as follows:

1. All member clubs are requested to register with the ECB Play-Cricket web site (there is no charge for this) they can then use the site to imput results and scorecards.
2. As soon as possible after the game, the home club will enter the summary result onto the Play-Cricket web site, including batting/bowling/penalty points (should be no later than 10.00 a.m. on the day after the game).
3. By Wednesday evening (6.00 p.m.) the home team web site results administrator is requested to fill in the scorecards from the home team scorebook via the home team’s Play-Cricket web site, and tick the home teams ‘result confirmed’ flag.
4. By Thursday evening (6.00 p.m.) the away team website results administrator is requested to check the scorecard against the away teams scorebook via the away teams Play-Cricket web site, makes any necessary additions and corrections and ticks the away teams ‘result confirmed’ flag.
5. The league web site administrator will monitor the use of the web site during the season and report to the Management Committee who will make recommendations to the 2007 AGM.

This motion was rejected.

The Management Committee then proposed that Rule 4.2 Qualifications be amended to read;

Trophies shall only be awarded to players who fulfil the following qualifications;

Batting – A minimum of 50% of the scheduled number of innings for the season and 400 runs

Bowling – A minimum of 35 wickets

For average purposes no record shall be allowed to count after the winning hit has been made.

Stumps shall be drawn immediately the winning hit is made.

This motion was carried

Notts. & Arnold Amateurs then proposed the following part of Rule 5.1 Categories of Players be deleted.

Category B – Development Player

1. A cricketer registered with the E.C.B. by a First Class County Cricket Club, who played for his club for two consecutive seasons immediately prior to his First-class registration.

This motion was rejected.

The Management Committee then proposed the following amendment to Rule 6.4 Provision of Umpires.

1. A club with more than two teams in the League shall supply at least one extra umpire for each additional team.

This motion was carried.

The  Bassetlaw and District Umpires Association then proposed the following amendment to Rule 6.3 (i) Payment of Umpires.

1. Each appointed umpire shall, not later than the end of the tea interval, be paid match expenses of £25.00, the cost to be shared by both clubs concerned.

This motion was also carried.

The Management Committee proposed that Rule 6.5 (i) be amended to read;

1. Umpires in Divisions 1 and 2 shall be confidentially assessed by captains on their performance in every match and the report submitted to be received within five days of the match. Progressive fines none exceeding £20.00 shall be imposed for non-compliance with this rule.

This motion was accepted by the membership.

A similar motion presented by the Bassetlaw and District Umpires Association with the penalty being a two point deduction rather than the £20.00 progressive fine was then withdrawn after the previous amendment had been accepted.

The Management Committee then proposed the following amendment to the Rules for the Tomlins Trophy 3 Eligibility of Players.

1. All players must be registered with the club in accordance with League Rule 5.2
2. A player with a Premier League club shall not be eligible if he has played the majority of his Saturday cricket in that League during the current season.
3. No player who has played for a club in the competition is eligible to play for another club in the competition in the same season.

This motion was carried.

The last four proposals all concerned the Mallen Trophy which was successfully turned into a 20/20 competition last season and all were passed by the membership. They were;

The Management Committee proposed that the following Rule for the Mallen Trophy used in the 2006 season be amended to read; 4 Arrangement of Matches

1. A cancellation due to adverse playing conditions may be made by the home club only with the agreement of the away club. Such a match shall be arranged once for a mutually agreed date, but a further cancellation due to adverse playing conditions shall classify it a No Result.

The Management Committee and the Bassetlaw and District Umpires Association proposed the following addition to Rule 6 (ii) for the Mallen Trophy.

After ‘appoint its own umpire’ insert ‘who must be a member of the Bassetlaw and District Umpires Association’.

The Bassetlaw and District Umpires Association proposed the following amendment to Rule 6 (ii) for the Mallen Trophy.

Delete ‘any remuneration being by mutual agreement’ and replace with ‘Umpires match expenses for the preliminary rounds of the Mallen Trophy shall be £11.00

Finally The Management Committee proposed that the Rules for the Mallen Trophy used in the 2006 season plus the amendments made above be adopted en-bloc.

Annual General Meeting report