29 Mar New season, new rules.
With a new season almost upon us all team captains and players should make sure they are familiar with the match play and competition rules for the year, especially as there have been some key changes for 2023. The full set of rules are available on this website and also in the new 2023 Year Books.
Some things to highlight in particular (not an exhaustive list, please do read the full set of rules).
10-man tied players.
2c) Players from Divisions 1 and 2 in the 10-man league cannot play in any clubs lower 10-man or 6-man teams if he has played 75% of that clubs 10-man league games in the current season. This applies to both league and knock-out competition matches. Any infringement will result in that player losing 21-0.
The tied player rule has changed for this season, with players in Div 1 and 2 ten-man teams becoming tied once they have played 75% (previously 50%) of a team’s games. This means players become tied on playing their 18th league game. And for the benefit of any doubt, on becoming tied a player cannot play in any lower division 10-man team or in any 6-man team, for any club.
Julie Fuller Qualification
Julie Fuller Trophy for 6-Man Teams
(b) Teams to consist of six players who must qualify by having played 50% of league games played prior to the start of any round of that year’s competition or with the discretion of the Competition Secretary.
The rule becomes effective from the Round of 32 on 26th May. For those teams taking part in preliminary qualifying on 12th May this rule will not apply.
The number of games a player needs to have played will be rounded down to a whole number if there has been an odd number of league games.
This change to the Julie Fuller qualification rule means that throughout the competition anyone taking part must continually qualify by having played in at least 50% of the six-man league games to date. Therefore a player may qualify for an early round, but could cease to qualify if they do not play often enough in their 6-man team prior to the next round.
10-man relegation
Not a rule change, but something to keep in mind. As highlighted at the February AGM, there is further work to be done in order to better balance the number of 10-man teams across divisions. This means at the end of the 2023 season there will be extra teams relegated alongside the bottom two teams in each division. The exact numbers will absolutely depend upon how many team entries there are for 2024 – just one more or less entry than this year can have a profound effect. No guarantees then, but if you want to feel safe at least try to keep out of the bottom four!
6-man Division 3
Please note, as Thongsbridge C are playing home matches on Fridays these are treated as rearranged from the preceding Monday and Match Play Rule 3, 1a applies. This means that any players having played in other teams on the Monday cannot play in the Friday game.
Player registration
Not a new rule, but clubs are encouraged to make sure their players details are complete and up to date. Players are registered with name, date of birth and BCGBA membership number. If registrations can be completed in full it will be really helpful, in particular to get a view of the Leagues current age profile. However if any player wishes not to register their date of birth then that is fine.