Discipline

24. Failure to fulfil a fixture (1st offence) shall be a fine of £100.00 with referral to Disciplinary Committee and the League shall have the power to recharge any expenses to the offending club.

 

25. a. Failure to fulfil a fixture (2nd offence) shall be a fine of £100.00, recharge of expenses and referral to the League Disciplinary Committee, 3rd offence shall be a fine of £100.00, recharge of expenses and suspension of fixtures until the matter is dealt with by the Disciplinary Committee.

 

b.In all cases of failure to fulfil a fixture, the match points will be awarded to the non-offending team (does not include bonus points).

 

c.In all cases of failure to fulfil a fixture, the offences to be kept on file to the end of the playing season they were incurred (not to be carried forward to a new season).

 

d.All teams expelled in these circumstances will retain the right of appeal.

 

26. Any team reported for failing to bowl their allotted overs at the rate of 4 minutes per over, on three or more occasions in the current season, shall be referred to the League Discipline Committee.

 

27. In the event of ungentlemanly conduct by the player(s), official(s) or club(s) the umpire shall issue a code of conduct complaint to the team captain of the offending side(s) at the time of the offence(s).  Code of conduct complaints to be issued in keeping with the ECB code of conduct.  A formal code of conduct complaint must be reported in writing to the League General Secretary within three days of the match, the umpire will indicate in the report what level of offence under MCC Law 42 the Code of Conduct he considers has been committed (Level 1, 2, 3 or 4).  The League General Secretary shall refer the report to the Discipline Committee and copies of the report shall be sent to the offending club(s).  The club(s) shall convene an internal club enquiry which is the responsibility of the Club Chairman or a deputy.  The club(s) shall have seven days to deal with the code of conduct report and take such action as necessary. In most cases, conduct issues at Level 1 and Level 2 will be dealt with on the basis of written evidence only. Conduct issues at Level 3 and Level 4 will be dealt with at a Disciplinary meeting. The Chair of Disciplinary will form a Disciplinary panel from the Disciplinary Committee (minimum of 3 quorum) and inform the player and club what conduct charge will be heard and who will consider the evidence and decide the outcome. The club will have the opportunity to respond to the charge and also place on record an objection to a Disciplinary Panel member on the basis of a conflict of interest. The Disciplinary panel may seek further information about the charge from the team/player or any other third party they deem necessary including the umpire or reporting party before making a decision. The Disciplinary panel will decide the outcome on the balance of probability and set a sanction in accordance with Rule 11(a) and 11(b). The Chair of Disciplinary will inform the club of any outcome in writing as soon as reasonably possible. Any proven breach of conduct will remain on record for 24 months and will be brought into consideration should there be any further conduct breach in that time.

 

28. Clubs have the right of appeal against the decision of the Disciplinary Committee, provided a written appeal is received by the League General Secretary, within seven days of the disciplinary hearing and that the appeal fee is also paid.  Grounds for appeal must be clearly stated in the written appeal, as the Appeals Committee can only accept information in this way.  The club(s) and player(s) have the same right of representation as at the original Discipline Committee Meeting, but all expenses are to be paid to any re-convened witnesses.  Providing the decision of the Disciplinary Committee did not include “serious misconduct”, the club(s) or player(s) shall have the judgement of the Disciplinary set aside, pending the hearing by the Appeals Committee.

 

29. Any player(s) or official(s) reported for dissent to an umpire, if the complaint is upheld by the Disciplinary Committee, irrespective of any other action taken by the Disciplinary Committee, the offending player(s) or official(s) must apologise in writing to the umpire concerned within a specified time.  The written apology must be addressed to the umpire concerned but forwarded to the League General Secretary for onward transmission.  The offending player(s) or official(s) will become indefinitely suspended if a satisfactory written apology is not received within the specified time.

 

30. All matches to be played within the spirit of the game, as per the ECB Code of Conduct.  Team captains are responsible for the conduct of matches and it is their duty to report serious misconduct to the offending club and to the League, if appropriate.