Time keeping of teams

[filbell]

Hi I umpire in Cyprus and the whole island has a very relaxed attitude to time keeping.
Games that are supposed to start at 11am invariably one team doesn't turn up till 11.15ish so we get a late start.
They are allowed 4 mins per over but regularly go over the time allowed.

What is the best way of penalizing late arrival and over rates? (Fines would not be any good - cant get them to pay the league subscription)
Is 4 minutes an over a reasonable time (were playing 35 overs in 2008 hopefully 45 in 2009) to allow?

Advice please

[swerveman]

15 overs an hour is plenty reasonable enough. Our League expects 17 overs an hour, with points deducted for any shortfall. I suggest a similar deduction for late arrivals.

Here is the relevant section from the Playing Conditions:

OVER RATE PENALTIES
P13. The "required over rate" is seventeen overs per hour.
P14. A side that fails to meet the required rate over the course of each innings will have points deducted (subject to P16 & P18) as follows:
Less than 17 overs/hour 1 Point
Less than 16.5 overs/hour 2 Points
Less than 16 overs/hour 3 Points
Less than 15.5 overs/hour 4 Points
Less than 15 overs/hour 5 Points.
etc.
Note: Over Rate calculation = overs bowled divided by net minutes of play, times 60. (Part overs count as one over bowled).
P15. Achievement of the required over rate and any necessary monitoring are the sole responsibility of team captains. Nevertheless, it is within the Spirit of the Game for umpires to provide captains with relevant information, and in addition at the close of play to inform them about the over rates actually achieved. Failure by the umpires to comply with this clause shall not invalidate the subsequent deduction of points.
P16. During play, umpires shall have the power to make all reasonable allowances for time lost during an innings, for example: all drinks intervals; injuries; time taken recovering balls; and such other delaying factors as they consider appropriate (including time wasting by the batting side). The umpire at the bowlers end will inform the fielding captain, the batsmen, and his fellow umpire of any time allowances as and when they arise; they shall not be subject to retrospective negotiation. Umpires shall deduct the allowances from the total time taken to complete the innings in order to produce the "net minutes of play" required for calculating the over rate.
P17. At the close of play the umpires shall be responsible for the calculation of the over rate achieved in each innings (see the Note to P14 above). They must ensure that any failure to achieve the "required over rate" is recorded in both scorebooks; this is to ensure that the relevant details are incorporated in the match result as notified by the home team to the League's Results & Fixtures Secretary. The umpires shall also include the relevant details in their own match report, which is sent to the League Secretary.
P18. No penalties shall apply in the following circumstances:
(a) If an innings ends within 45 overs.
(b) If an innings is interrupted, resulting in a deduction of the overs allowed/allocated.
(c) If either innings has to be closed during a prolonged stoppage for weather, etc

[jaybee]

I was just about to say that our league's rate is 17 overs per hour when I saw swerveman's comprehensive reply. His league's rules make ours look a bit amateurish!
Perhaps there's one point worth mentioning: the amount of the penalty needs to be geared to how many points are at stake in total. The scale needs to take account of whether a win is worth, say, 25 points or 10.
A deduction for late arrivals is a bit more tricky - if most of team A is late, but one man short, while team B turns up even later but is ready to play before A's last man comes, what penalties dfo you apply? I suppose it's a question of when each team is ready to play.

[filbell]

Hi Swerveman, thanks for your reply and so prompt. Just what I was looking for a tried and tested method, just felt I was reinventing the wheel and knew somebody would have the answer.

Next favour is it possible to send me the complete playing conditions on an email with attachments or give me the web link to view them please?

Also thanks Jaybee, is it possible for you to do the above as well please so I can take in all the info?

Thanks in advance

Phil BELL

[swerveman]

No problem. Here's a link to the League website. Enjoy the browsing.

sussexcl.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp