At the North Otago Cricket Association meeting last night a number of rules were discussed and reviewed. Amongst them was a discussion of player eligibility rule regarding competition semi-finals and finals.
With this in mind following rule was moved and then passed by the committee with it put into place effectively immediately so this rule WILL APPLY to the finals of the current season (2011-2012).
The introduced rule is:
Player eligibility for Semi Finals and Finals.
Borton Cup and Senor Reserve and 2nd Grade Competitions
To be eligible to play in the finals a player must have played three competition games for the team during the season. Players may play in a final for a team of a higher grade, so long as they have played 3 games for the club in the season. Players may go down a grade where they meet the eligibility rules for that team (i.e. played 3 games in regular competition)
For clarity, players who have played representative cricket for North Otago must still have played the required number of games for their club to be eligible for a final.
For Dick Hunt and summer competition finals players must have played 2 games in the round robin, or two games in the main competition prior to Christmas.
It is the responsibility of team captains to ensure all their players are eligible before the start of play. If an opposition captain has doubts as to a player's eligibility he should raise it prior to the match commencing (at the toss).
Teams that are unable to demonstrate eligibility on appeal will forfeit the game.
Also introduced is a Code of Practice For Player Umpires. Like the rule above it is effective immediately. It may be viewed here.
Both of the new rules can be viewed in the rules section of the Resources and Reports page.
Over the winter their will be a complete review of current rules and regulations by the North Otago Cricket Association before the start of the 2012-13 season.
-Scott Cameron