Clubs to vote on fielding circle

CRICKET:

FIELDING restrictions will be in place for next season’s Tanner and Moore Cup matches if the proposal gets the green light at Thursday’s annual meeting of the Saddleworth and District Cricket League at Uppermill CC (8pm).

The rule is already in place in the SDCL’s Twenty20 Cup, but clubs have so far rejected the idea of it being introduced in other competitions.

Ensuring a minimum of four fielders plus the wicketkeeper, inside a 25-yard circle when the bowler is in his delivery stride, is a way of preventing captains posting all their men on the boundary or in defensive positions. This should, in turn, make for more exciting cricket.

Other local cricket leagues, including the Lake Garage CLL, already enforce fielding restrictions.

In another submission, the Saddleworth League will try to accommodate reserve dates for the first two rounds of the cups in order to avoid, if possible, the inconvenience of midweek games when it is often difficult for players to be available.

It has also been proposed to have fixed dates for the Tanner and Moore Cup finals.

The Tanner Cup final, if it gets the thumbs-up, will always be played on the first Sunday in August, with the Moore Cup on the second Sunday of the same month.

Both finals would also start at 1pm, instead of 1.45pm.

Another new proposal says that clubs will have the right to ban a player or players as long as they notify the league in writing for the reason and also when the ban is to be lifted.

The league says clubs should be aware that bans are enforceable in a private ground provided they have good reason.

It has been proposed that umpires, if made aware of the reason, will have the discretion to delay the start of matches for a maximum of 30 minutes when teams have seven or less players at the scheduled start time.

In an attempt to avoid a repeat of last season, if adverse weather causes the abandonment of any match in the Twenty20 Cup competition, the fixture can be replayed, if both clubs agree, on a date within the next 14 days.

If the teams can’t agree or if the match is abandoned again, a bowl-out will take place. If this is not possible because of the weather, then a toss of a coin will decide the winner.

In other proposals, annual subscriptions will rise to £100, an increase of £25, while clubs’ proof of insurance will have to be with the treasurer by the March league meeting or hand-delivered or emailed by the third Saturday in April each year.

All scoreboards will need a sign indicating the second innings target as this can alter when the ‘Weathertime System’ is in operation, while clubs will be fined £20 if their first team does not field 11 players.

This has been submitted to stop clubs playing a full team in a Division Two fixture when they want a strong team to win a particular match at the expense of Division One standards.

And the one-day wide rule — all deliveries which pass down the legside of the batsman in his normal stance to be called a wide — will be put to the vote. This is to avoid inconsistency.