PREFACE
The Purpose of the US Cricket League (USCL) – Tournament Rules is to establish the Code of Conduct for the tournament. All the USCL League matches shall be played as per ICC’s playing conditions for T20 format. The ICC’s playing conditions for T20 shall be superseded by USCL specific playing conditions specified in this document.
OBJECTIVE
The Objective of the USCL shall be to control and oversee that the tournament is played in the right spirit of the game and foster, improve, aid and extend the game of cricket.
MEMBERSHIP
1. The league shall be open to all Clubs and Players willing to join except the ones which are specifically banned due to violation of league laws or severe violation of spirit of the game.
2. Any club seeking membership with USCL shall submit a registration form with at least 15 players who are the members of the club.
3. It must submit a deposit of $250 dollars with the league. This deposit shall be returned to the club at the end of the first season if the club has not forfeited more than 2 league games in the entire season. If it forfeits more than 2 games, it shall lose the entire deposit amount.
4. Teams must deposit an umpire’s fee deposit of $60 which will be returned to the teams at the end of the season.
5. All applications for membership shall be subject to approval by the League Management. In the event of any application being rejected, the registration fee shall be returned.
PAYMENT OF DUES
1. In the event where a member club from a previous year decides not to continue its membership with USCL for the following year, the club is expected to clear all dues with the League. If the club has an outstanding balance due, no players from that club will be allowed to participate in USCL matches until the balance is paid in full.
2. If an active member club registers and fields any players from a club that is no longer a member of USCL and has an outstanding balance, the offending club will be fined 2 points per violation and will automatically become liable for the amount due to USCL by the previous club of the said player/s.
3. If an active member club has NOT paid its due by the due date set by the league Management, the club will be suspended from USCL until the dues are paid in full.
1. UMPIRE AND HIS ROLE
League shall try to provide at least one qualified neutral umpire.
1.1 Neutral umpire will stand at the bowler’s end throughout the game.
1.2 All Umpire decisions are final unless otherwise the reversals are acceptable to both captains.
1.3 The Umpire shall decide & agree with both captains on any special conditions affecting the conduct of the game.
1.4 When no neutral umpire is available for a game, the captains are expected to arrange between them and nominate umpires for the game.
1.5 When Neutral umpire is on the field, Neutral umpire shall be paid a fee as prescribed by USCL at the beginning of the game irrespective of whether a game is played or not.
1.6 The game shall be controlled by the neutral umpire(s), and he/they shall be responsible for
ensuring the conduct of the match is strictly in accordance with the laws and regulations. They shall be sole judges of fair and unfair play. All players shall respect the umpire’s decision as final.
1.7 The umpires are authorized to act if in their opinion there is a deliberate waste of time by any member of either side. He shall warn the captain of the player(s) involved in causing delays or obstruction of match play.
1.7.1 All such warnings shall be
1.7.1.7.1 All such warnings shall be reported to USCL thus shall the warnings/violations be counted incrementally against the involved captain or players.
1.7.2 If the first bowling team is involved in delays or obstructions, Umpire shall dock an over per 4 minutes of lost time during their batting innings.
1.7.3 Should the batsman involved match delays or obstruction; Umpire shall dock 5 runs each instance of such violations.
1.7.4 Third violation of the above clauses 1.7.2 and 1.7.3 shall lead to reprimand of the captain and may lead to the match forfeiture.
1.8 In case leg umpire is not a league assigned umpire and there is a case of wrong decision, the official umpire reserves the right to overrule the square leg umpire’s decision.
1.9 The umpire shall ensure that all games are played using league provided balls.
2. GENERAL MATCH RULES
2.1 A game is played between 2 teams; each team consists of 11 players, one of them shall be a captain.
2.2 In case bad weather and/or an act of god event, the match can be delayed and with equal number of overs reduced at the rate of an over per 4 minutes lost.
2.3 Both team captains shall submit the 11 players’ names plus any substitute fields to the umpire before the toss. The list cannot be changed without the consent of the umpires and the other captain.
2.4 All players and substitutes must play in team colored clothing.
2.5 All Players are expected to play with Sneakers or footwear with rubber studs. No Player
shall be allowed to use shoes with metal or plastic spikes.
2.6 A team must have at least 7 eligible players present prior to toss, else the team with less than 7 players shall have to forfeit.
2.7 In the event of both teams not having required 7 players, each team captain shall get the warning and is reported to League Management/Operations.
2.8 In the event of both teams not having required 7 players, Home team shall win the toss by default and shall proceed with Match play.
2.9 If a team uses an ineligible player shall be fined $50 and shall be stripped from any points gained in the game. Game will be awarded to the opponent team.
2.10 Following are clarifications on ineligible players.
2.10.1 A player is deemed ineligible if the person is banned by the league board due to violation of league laws, the laws of the game or the non-sportsman like conduct.
2.10.2 A player in violation of having not submitted registration and waiver forms to the league management in advance.
2.10.3 A Player not playing required minimum number of matches prior to playoffs as per the scoring website/app. Scoring website/app is the only way to determine if a player is eligible to play play-off games.
2.11 Substitutes, Runners, Batsman or Fielder leaving the field.
2.11.1 If a fielder fails to take a field at the start of the game or at any later time or leaves the field during a game, the umpire shall be informed of the reason for this absence. Fielder shall come to the field with the consent of the umpire.
2.11.2 If the player is absent from the field for longer than 10 minutes the player shall not bowl in that innings for at least the length of playing time for which he was absent.
2.11.3 The player needs to field the last 5 overs of the first innings to open the innings.
2.11.4 If the player fields at least 1 over in the fielding innings, he can bat at any number except opening the innings.
2.11.5 Named substitute players must not bat, bowl or keep wickets and shall be allowed to field only.
2.11.6 If a player bats the first innings must take the field prior to end of 10th over of second innings if other than injured during the match play. A substitute shall not be allowed beyond 10th over unless otherwise Opponent captain allows it.
2.11.7 If a player bowls in the second innings, he must field at least 10 overs before a substitute is allowed. the Umpire. The calculation of number of overs to be bowled shall be based on average rate of 4.5 minutes per over in the total time available for the game.
3. MATCH TIME RULES AND REGULATIONS
3.1 All League games shall start on time, except for delays or interrupt due to weather and/or ground conditions.
3.2 In an uninterrupted game, all League matches shall consist of one innings per side, each innings being limited to a maximum of 20 overs with 6 legal deliveries per over.
3.3 In a delayed or interrupted game (due to weather/rain) the start time shall be decided by the umpire. The calculation of number of overs to be bowled shall be based on an average rate of 4.5 minutes per over in the total time available for the game.
3.4 If the start of the game is delayed due to weather conditions, the game will be officially called off 60 minutes after the scheduled start of game.
3.5 If the games are called off after the umpire arrives at the ground or a shortened game then teams must pay the umpires fee as a regular game fee.
3.6 If the games get called off by the umpire after the teams arrive at the ground, then players present at the ground will be counted towards playing 11 as a regular game and its team's responsibility to submit the players present at the ground to the umpire on the game day itself. Teams will not be permitted to submit the players who are NOT present at the ground.
3.7 If the first inning gets an opportunity to play 20 overs, the second inning must complete at least 10 overs, and then run rate will be implemented.
3.8 In a delayed or interrupted game if each team does not get an opportunity to play minimum of 10 overs within allotted time the game will be treated as “No result” and points will be split between the teams.
3.9 Match Delays due to player’s actions shall be addressed through Umpire’s provisions provided separately.
4. HOURS & START OF MATCH
4.1 Unless otherwise modified by league or by umpires on the field, the duration/hours shall remain as per scheduled.
4.2 Umpire fee must be paid before the game starts.
4.3 Matches shall be played in a timely manner; For ex: specified match start time is 8:00 AM, First innings must end at 9:35AM and Second innings to start by 9:45AM.
4.4 Both the teams should have at least a minimum of 7 players in proper clothing must be present on the field at the time of toss.
4.5 Both the team captains should have the list of their players and substitutes and present it to the umpire before the toss.
4.6 In the event of team captain not present, his team must nominate a deputy for the toss. Umpires are expected to be on ground for toss, if toss is delayed then both captains should proceed with 3rd person after 5 min delay enforce (Match should start within 10 mins of specified time irrespective of Umpire showing up, issue will be referred to Umpire coordinator)
4.7 The coin toss shall be completed by Umpire 10 minutes prior to the scheduled game in presence of Captains.
4.8 If one of the team is not ready at scheduled time, the offending team will be penalized the number of overs it bats at the rate of 1 over for every 5 minutes. The other team will get its full quota of overs
4.9 Toss winning captain should decide promptly no later than 5 minutes before the start of the game.
4.10 If the team has less than 7 players for the game, the game will be considered as Forfeit.
4.11 Drinks Break
4.11.1 There shall be a drink break of 5 minutes after 10 overs of each inning.
4.11.2 There shall be a break of 10 minutes at the end of the first inning.
4.11.3 In extreme hot weather conditions, with prior agreement of the captains and umpire there can be a drink break of 5 minutes every 8 overs.
5. CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR
5.1 All teams must wear their team’s colored cricket clothing. Cricket white clothing is not permitted. Individuals not wearing team’s colored clothing will not be permitted in the game.
5.2 Individuals can wear either the same color of the pants or white pads.
5.3 Use of shoes with metal or plastic spikes or any kind of shoes by the bowler and the batsman that is likely to damage or cause damage to the pitch are not permitted. Only rubber spiked footwear is allowed for batsman and bowlers
6. CRICKET GROUND – HOME TEAM RESPONSIBILITY
6.1 Captain of the home team is responsible for letting the umpires and opponent captain know of any field restrictions such as one end play and, restrictions or obstacles in the field of play, prior to the coin toss.
6.2 Open grass field big enough to mark minimum of 60 yards and maximum of 80-yard boundary around the pitch.
6.3 Smooth hard surface with standard cricket pitch dimensions and clearly marked crease markings. Matting surface may be used if desired.
6.4 Set wide ball markers, 35” from middle stump on each side (Right & Left-hand batsmen), to help wide ball calls on the offside.
6.5 It is the sole responsibility of the home team to prepare and have the field available for play at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the match.
6.6 Any questions, concerns, or objections in regard to the field preparation from the Visiting Captain may only be brought to the attention of umpires and addressed by the umpire(s) prior to the start of the match.
6.7 Unless pointed out and specified by the umpire(s), no alteration may be carried out by the visiting team to the existing setup.
6.8 Once field is handed over to the umpire(s) neither host nor are visitors allowed to make any changes to the existing setup without notifying and getting consent from the umpire.
6.9 The home team having a home field permit shall be responsible for supplying the following items at a minimum, when hosting a game.
6.9.1 Full length jute matting (gray or light brown) or Astroturf.
6.9.2 Stumps, bails and chalk for marking
6.9.3 100-meter measure tape
6.9.4 Bowler Marker
6.9.5 8-inch flat cones for inner 30-yard circle (the “circle”)
6.9.6 20 cones minimum that are to be placed 11-13 yards apart
6.9.7 Semi-circle of 30-yard radius from the middle stump at both ends drawn behind the wicket, connect the 2 semi-circles ends along the length of the pitch with a straight line.
6.9.8 12-inch cones to be placed for the boundary line at 60 yards.
6.9.9 30 yard cones are to be placed 14 - 17 yards apart at a minimum.
6.10 Home team or the designated home team shall share the duties of acting as a home team even if they do not have a home field, ensuring the below items are prepared & ready before the toss and scheduled start of the game.
6.11 Laying the mat safely and securely marking the crease clearly.
6.12 Pitching the wickets correctly, marking the wide area on the mat.
6.13 Putting cones around the boundary.
6.14 30-yard circle and boundary set (use 8-inch flat cones for inner circle and 12-inch cones for boundary line).
6.15 Uses of flags with metal rods are forbidden.
6.16 Use of any loudspeakers or horns is forbidden as there are residential houses near the grounds.
7. FIELDING RESTRICTIONS AND POWERPLAY
7.1 Power Play will be the first 6 overs of each inning of a 20 overs game. A minimum of 9 players must be within the 30-yard circle. 2 players may be positioned outside the 30-yard circle.
7.2 During the entire inning (Non-Power Play), a minimum of 4 players must be within the 30 yard- circle excluding the bowler and wicket keeper.
7.3 In the event of any infringement of above rules, the umpire shall call and signal “NO BALL”.
8. NUMBER OF OVERS PER BOWLER
8.1 Each bowler is restricted to a maximum of 4 overs in a normal 20 overs game.
8.2 If numbers of overs are reduced the maximum number of overs to bowl by each bowler should not exceed on fifth of the total number of overs.
8.3 It is the responsibility of the fielding captain to ensure that a reasonable over rate is maintained.
8.4 A member of the fielding team who leaves the field of play for any reason while the match continues will not be allowed to bowl on returning to the field for the number of overs that he was off the field.
8.5 If a bowler gets hurt during his spell, another bowler may continue his over. Same bowler also must satisfy rule (8.4) prior to coming back into attack.
9. BALLS
9.1 All teams must use league provided official balls.
9.2 Fielding team is responsible for providing the ball for the innings of the game.
9.3 Teams shall bring 2 new and 2 old balls to the games, so that in the event of a ball being lost or unfit for play a suitable replacement can be done without wasting time.
10. GAME RESULTS
10.1 All game scoring should be done in the official scoring app (CricClubs).
10.2 In case of issues with the scoring app then a backup scoring using the paper is allowed.
10.3 All scorecards/results of the game (app OR the manual scoring on the paper) MUST be updated in the app/website before the end of day on following Tuesday. If game happens on Saturday or Sunday, then by Tuesday EOD the scorecard should be finalized in the website/app by both the team captains for accuracy and completeness.
10.4 Scorecard/game results will be locked in the website/app by Tuesday night of every week and NO UPDATES WILL BE ALLLOWED AFTER THAT.
10.5 The team that scores the most runs are considered a winner and shall be awarded 2 points, opposing team receive 0 points.
10.6 In the event the game is a tie (both teams’ scores equal runs), each team get 1 point.
10.7 All interrupted games (e.g. unfinished or rained-out), each team gets 1 point.
10.8 If a team forfeits a game or is considered as forfeits will get 0 points and opposition team gets 2 points.
10.9 In case of a tie amongst teams, i.e., If the points and record is the same, combined run rate (NRR) for all non-playoff matches will be used to determine team standings for playoffs. If NRR is same, then it’s followed by head-to-head wins against the teams with same points will be considered in seeding the teams for playoffs.
10.10 Tournament rules may define tie breaker rules and shall supersede above rule (10.9).
11. GAME RULES
11.1 WIDE
11.1.1 Leg side: Any ball passing down the leg side, behind the batsman's legs, is considered a
wide.
11.1.2 If the ball touches any part of the batsman, including the batting gear, it would not be considered a wide.
11.1.3 Offside: Any ball 2 1/2 feet away from the off stump when the batsman is in a normal stance is considered a wide. This is to be judged based on when the ball passes the batsman. If the batsman's movement from a normal stance causes the ball to be wide, it would not be considered wide.
11.2 NO BALL
11.2.1 If any ball, after pitching, goes over the shoulder line of a batsman in normal stance it is considered a no ball.
11.2.2 There is 1 bouncer allowed per over.
11.2.3 Any full toss over the waistline of a batsman in normal stance is considered a no ball.
Any bowler who violates this twice in an innings will not be allowed to bowl at all for the rest of the innings.
11.2.4 The bowler’s front foot must land with some part of the foot, whether grounded or raised behind the popping crease. If not, then it is considered a no ball.
11.2.5 The bowlers back foot must be within and should not be touching the side crease (return crease). If not, then it is considered a no ball.
11.2.6 If a ball is wide and pitches outside the matting, it will be considered a ‘No ball’.
11.2.7 All ‘No ball’ will result in a free hit.
11.3 LBW (LEG BEFORE WICKET)
11.3.1 If the ball pitches outside the leg stump it is not out. This is irrespective of the bowler bowling over the wicket or around, pace or spin, left or right arm, or the batsman playing on front or back foot.
11.3.2 If the ball pitches outside the off stump and comes back in it has to hit the batsman in-line with the stumps to be considered out. If the impact is outside the off stump then it is not out, even if the ball is either turning or moving off the seam towards the stumps.
11.3.3 If the ball is pitching anywhere else, the key determinant is, would the ball have undoubtedly hit the stumps? Factors affecting that decision are angle of delivery, height, rise or dip etc.
11.4 DEAD BALL
11.4.1The ball is dead when it finally rests in the hands of the wicket keeper.
11.4.2 If the ball pitches more than once before passing the batting crease, it will be considered a Dead ball. A ball that rolls along is considered to have pitched more than once.
11.5 BOWLER ATTEMPTING TO RUN OUT THE NON-STRIKER
11.5.1 Bowler can only run out a non-striker before entering the delivery stride.
11.5.2. If the non-striker is out of the crease, he’s out. If the result is a misfiled/overthrow, any resulting runs will be allowed.
11.6 TIMED OUT
11.6.1 If the incoming batsman fails to enter the boundary before the outgoing batsman has crossed the boundary, he'll be given out on appeal.
11.6.2 Outgoing batsmen are not allowed to hang around inside the boundary, allowing incoming batsman to get ready. This will also be a ground for the incoming batsman’s dismissal on an appeal. Umpire may use his judgment to accept or decline the appeal.
11.6.3 The incoming batsman must be adequately ready to play in the opinion of the Umpire. Throwing the pads over the boundary and then getting dressed is not allowed.
11.7 OBSTRUCTING THE FIELD
11.7.1 If by action or words, the batsman or non-striker obstructs the fielder from making a fair catch or run out, the umpire must decide if the obstruction was willful or happenstance. If willful, upon appeal, the batsman would be given out.
11.8 DIMENSIONS AND MARKINGS
11.8.1 The boundary cannot be more than 80yards from the middle stump. The boundary circle is set by measuring a radius from the middle stump. This is a semi-circle that starts from the line of the off stump and ends in the line of the leg stump. Repeat the same at the other end of the pitch and then connect the two semi circles.
11.8.2 The 30-yard circle is set by measuring a radius of 30yards from the middle stump. This is a semi-circle that starts from the line of the off stump and ends in the line of the leg stump. Repeat the same at the other end of the pitch and then connect the two semi circles along the pitch.
11.8.3 The distance between the two sets of stumps must be 22 yards.
11.8.4 The popping crease must be 4 feet from the middle stump along the pitch.
11.8.5 The side/return crease must be 4 feet and 4 inches from the middle stump on either side.
11.8.6 The markings for the wide ball should be drawn on the popping crease. 2 1/2 feet from the outer stumps on either side.
12. CODE OF CONDUCT & DISCIPLINE
12.1 Team captains are responsible that the game is played with Spirit of the Game.
12.2 Captains shall advise their respective team players that the Umpires’ decision is final.
12.3 The Umpires shall not tolerate any verbal abuse, cursing in any form/language on himself or the opponent team.
12.4 Team captain will be warned to restrain against its offending player. In the event the captain fails to take such action against its player, the Umpire may impose penalty runs/docking overs along with tossing the player out from the game should there be an extreme act by a player.
12.5 Umpires if deemed non-cooperation or hostile acts from a team have the ability to stop the match and award it to the opponent team. Umpire is required to produce a Match Incident report to the league.
12.6 Umpires are required to bring any other disciplinary issues before the USCL Management.
13. ROSTER UPDATES
13.1 Team Captains/Managers are responsible to maintain the players roster on the official scoring website/app.
13.2 For Regular Season games: Team Captain/Manager should add any new player to the roster before the end of the day Thursday for a weekend game. After that team roster updates are locked and will be opened up only on following Monday.
13.3 For Playoffs/Semis/Finals: No new players will be allowed to be added to the roster and only qualified players (according to the tournament rules for minimum # of games to be played by a player) are allowed to play in these games. Rained out and Forfeited games don't count towards playoff's eligibility. Eligibility is checked ONLY on the scoring website/app and NOT on any manual scoring on paper or any other means.
13.4 Teams that violate the rules will be penalized.