Heartland Cricket League

Heartland Cricket League Rules

1. Only players registered with member clubs of Heartland Cricket League shall be allowed to participate in any events/activities conducted by HCL.
2. Each Team should register a minimum of 11 players, up to 20 players at the maximum.
3. A team can add any number of players till it reaches the maximum limit of 20.  Once the maximum is reached, a team can only add a new player to the list by pulling out one existing player from it. In the event that a team is found to have fielded ineligible (non-registered) players for a game, that team shall be deemed to have forfeited the game and all the penalties for a game forfeiture apply.
4. Under any circumstances, a player who has represented a team in a league match cannot be a part of any other team after playing more than 2 games for the original team in a season. For a player to represent a team in the play-offs, the player should have played at least 2 games in the league phase.
5. No shorts or Tank tops allowed. Players will be required to wear only whites or team uniform for all the games.  Dark Colored uniform is not recommended.  The team uniform should be approved by the Executive Body.
6. No sledging is allowed. Players shall, at all times, conduct play within the spirit of the game as well as within the HCL rules and Captains are responsible, at all times, for ensuring that this is adhered to. Ball tampering will not be tolerated. Only Captain and Bowler may speak to the Umpire about any concern they might have or about a decision.
7. The Captains from both sides shall ensure the boundaries and period intervals during match before the toss.  The home team shall prepare the ground with boundary cones and wickets before the schedule start of the game.
8. The captains are requested to exchange the list of playing eleven before the toss.  Captains shall advise members of their respective teams that the Umpires’ decision is final and binding in regards to the playing of the game. Any individual acting in an ungentlemanly or un-sportsmanlike manner or using profanity shall not be tolerated by the Umpires nor should it be tolerated by the team to which that individual belongs.  Disciplinary action shall be taken by the team itself against the offending player.  In the event the team fails to take such action against the player, the Executive Body of the HCL may impose sanctions against the player of the team or both, at their discretion.
9. League matches shall consist of no more than 30 overs per side, with 6 balls per over. Each bowler shall bowl no more than 6 overs or one-fifth of total overs agreed prior to start of the game. All teams are required to use only the balls provided by the league for any HCL games.
10. A lunch interval shall be taken between the innings and the duration shall not exceed 30 minutes.
11.  A drinks break shall be taken every 15 overs.  Duration of drinks break shall not exceed 10 minutes each. In extremely hot weather, the frequency of water breaks may be increased to every 10 overs with 5-minute duration.
12. No bowler may deliver the ball under-arm.
13. Unless Time has been called, the incoming batsman must be in position to take guard or his partner to receive the next delivery within [3] three minutes of fall of wicket. Should he fail to do so, on appeal, he will be declared Timed out.
14. Home Teams are requested to provide a suitable scoreboard, visible from the wicket.
15. Batsmen or the fielding side captain can request for change of the ball in play if it seems unfit.  If a ball is lost or deteriorates, the fielding side should provide a ball similar to the condition of the match ball and both Captains should agree prior to its being used.  
16. Toss will take place 10 minutes before the scheduled start of the game.  The home team will have the privilege to toss the coin and the visitors can call.  Captain of the team winning the toss should let the other captain know whether he is batting first or bowling first, right after the toss. If a team is not fully present at the scheduled start, the opponent will be considered as the winner of the toss and will decide which team bowls/bat first.  A team needs at least 8 of its players present to play the game.  If both teams are short of minimum 8 players, both the captains can agree for a late start.  This should in no way affect any other league game scheduled to be played in the same ground. 
17. Captains are responsible for the provision of a standard cricket scorebook, and competent individual(s) to fully complete the scoring. In the absence of either of these, the other team's scoring will prevail. Where two scorers are present, it is their responsibility to mutually agree, with the assistance of captains and Umpires, if required. Any inconsistencies should be resolved as soon as possible, and no later than the end of an innings.
18. The winning team is responsible to report the result of a match to the web administrator no later than the Monday following the weekend the match takes place.
19. Likewise, Score sheets must be submitted to the web admin by Wednesday, 5:00 PM CST following the match weekend.
20. Failure to follow 18 or 19 is punishable by up to a docking of 2 points against the team.
21. Substitute players shall be allowed to field for a player who satisfies both the captains that he has become disabled by illness or injury during the match, but not for any other reason without the approval of the opposing Captain. The substitute should be attired in full team gear. The opposing captain shall have no right of objection to any player acting as a substitute, within the Law, nor as to where he shall field. A substitute shall not be allowed to bat, bowl or act as wicket-keeper.
22. Any ball that lands outside the pitch and goes past the batsman will be considered a WIDE and NOT A DEAD BALL.
23. An ICC rule book will be provided by the league to each team and the book shall be present at every match played.  It is the home team’s responsibility to ensure that the book is available.  All ICC One day rules apply, in addition to any particular ones as modified or added by the HCL rules.

Rescheduling Rules

1. Every attempt must be made to play a match during the weekend that it is scheduled in.
2. Captains are encouraged to work out alternatives (playing at a different time, different venue etc. but all during the same weekend) to ensure cricket is played as long as it is possible and risk free. 
3. All matches will be CALLED (Win, Loss, Tie or Washed Out) by HCL on the Wednesday, 5:00 PM CST following the weekend they are scheduled in. This means that if both teams in a match fail to submit score reports (or notify of washout) by Wednesday 5:00 PM CST, the match will be considered as washed out and 3 points awarded to each team. This is in addition to the 2 point docking per team that was previously announced for failure to submit score reports by Wednesday, 5:00 PM Central Standard Time.
4. No match shall be rescheduled by individual teams beyond the weekend that it is scheduled in. If a match cannot be played on that weekend (STRICTLY DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS), then it will be considered as Washed out and the points will be split between the teams.
5.  HCL does not encourage altering play times of any match due to non-weather related reasons such as player unavailability. Some, but very little, latitude is provided to captains to alter play times upon mutual consent. However, in the event that such a mutually-consented, rescheduled match is washed out, the team requesting the reschedule will have to forego the points and the other team will automatically receive all points for the game. 
6. HCL Executive Board will monitor the "washed out" (excluding those awarded by rule 5 above) matches closely and will make every attempt to arrange for playing them during the second half of the season. For this to be practical, it is absolutely important that all of us work towards keeping the number of washed out games to an absolute minimum.

Umpiring Rules

1. Each team has designated 4 umpires for the game to be the main umpire.  ONLY those 4 umpires should be the main umpire (square-leg umpire can be anyone who knows the rules about wides and full tosses, apart from run-outs and stumpings).  The main umpire can (and must) over-rule the square-leg umpire if there is a discrepancy.
2. Only, and only if, the 4 umpires are engaged (say two are batting and two are absent) should the batting team send in a replacement main umpire.  This umpire MUST be approved by both captains beforeumpiring.  If the fielding team's captain objects, then a replacement from the rest of the side should be suggested by him.  Note:  this is ONLY for those extenuating circumstances when all 4 designated umpires are unable to umpire.
3. The scorer MUST note who the main umpires were for the innings.  The captains, in their match report, MUST mention the names of the umpires for the game.  The captains, in their match report, may add additional comments on the umpiring (both good jobs and bad jobs).  If the captain chooses to not write anything about the umpires other than their name, the assumption will be that those umpires did a great job.

Award of Points 

                    The point system used in this League's competition shall be as follows:

1. The team scoring the most runs shall be considered the winner and shall receive 6 points.  The other team shall be considered the loser and shall receive zero points.
2. If a team fails to honor the league schedule or ‘Walk-Over,’ six "6" points shall be awarded to the opponent team.
3. In the event both teams score equal number of runs, the game will be considered as a tie and 4 points shall be awarded to each team.
4. If a match is stopped, due to interruption, weather and light conditions included, before the side batting second has faced its required quota of overs and it has not been all-out, nor has passed its opponent's score, the match shall be declared a 'No-Result' match.
5. Three "3" points shall be awarded to each team when a match is called off on account of weather at any time.
6. If match results are not reported by 5:00 PM on Monday following the game weekend and score sheets are not reported by the winning before 5:00 PM on Wednesday, following the game weekend, 2 points shall be docked from the winning team.  The same rule applies to the losing team incase if they have maintained scores separately.

Final Standings
In the event two "2" or more teams finish with an equal number of points, their positions in the Division shall be decided by:

1. The most overall Wins or, if still equal
2. The winner of the games played between the two tied teams, if still tied.
3. The winner shall be the team with the highest net run rate of all the games played.

Rule Changes for Forfeiting Games

•          In order to discourage teams from forfeiting games, we are introducing a new rule to penalize teams that forfeits a scheduled league game. You would give away 6 points to your opponents and along with that 3 points will be deducted from your existing league standings. 
•          For example, if your league standings state that you have 18 points after 4 games. You would end up with 15 points after forfeiting.