Handbook on line 2012 - Forester Kent Cricket League - Uk.net

REPORTS
REPORTS
Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League
Where have all the
Surely every Club can find volunteers from
A final plea to all those sides who have no
amongst their number to score for their senior
intention of supplying a scorer:
scorers gone?
teams?It will help them get to know the Club and
Please apologise, and before the game, to any
the laws of the game and solve the problem with
scorers you may encounter and at least have the
the minimum of fuss and maximum of efficiency.
decency to inform them of your bowlers when in
The Laws of Cricket
the field and those who have taken the catches at
They get a free tea and if every player puts in a £1
the end of the innings.
“Law 4: The Scorers”
– more than worth it – they finish the day with
1. Appointment of scorers – Two scorers shall be
appointed to record all runs scored, all wickets
taken and, where appropriate, number of overs
bowled
Playing Conditions of the Kent League
3.3 Each Club must provide a scorer for each
match. A side that fails to provide a scorer shall
ensure that they nominate two people to ‘man’
the score-box, or scoring table, throughout the
innings of their own side.
£11, although this is well below the minimum
wage and the real cost is something in the region
of £50 , which the sliding scale of penalties,
presumably, is designed to reflect.
Alternatively perhaps former or injured players
may like to put something back into the Club, or
am I being naive?
At the moment Clubs are not encouraged to
address the problem, so why not extend the
penalties to cover all divisions and not just the
Premier League?
Otherwise scorers will have to resort to shouting
“Bowlers name”, which might be deemed not
within the spirit nor code of conduct of the game,
but is a resort born out of anger and frustration
at being ignored.
With Bromley Common promoted to Division
Two and Sidcup relegated to Division Four I
may be the only scorer in Division Three next
year. Come on Harvel, Holmesdale, Chestfield
and Downham & Bellingham – the respective
relegated and promoted sides from Divisions Two
and Four – prove me wrong and I’ll gladly eat my
words.
Bit of a contradiction there – “a side that fails to
provide” is not the same as “must provide” whilst
the word ‘man’, and the quotation marks are in
the playing conditions of the league rather than
being mine, are an insult to our lady scorers. (Fact
– only three teams in Division 3, 1st X1 section,
had scorers in the 2011 season, and two of them
were ladies!
But, hang on a minute, under “Fines 2011” it
states:
6.Failure to provide a scorer – Fines for no
scorers will be applied on a sliding scale– first
offence £50, second £75, third and subsequent
£100 plus 5 penalty points
Ah, that’s more like it – I bet that concentrates
the mind. But, and hang on for another minute –
sorry to take up so much of your time - that only
applies to the Premier League!!!
As you have probably guessed by now, I am a
scorer, from Old Wilsonians if you really must
know, and have lost count of the number of
games I have scored on my own, although I do
know that I ‘manned the score-box or scoring
table’ for 40 games last season and only five
opposing sides had a scorer.
So where have all the scorers gone, and in an
effort to be positive and constructive, I am
convinced that the problem is easily solved.
Most sides have colts sections, which is really
encouraging and essential for the future of the
game, and these sections invariably have well over
100 participants.
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The most disturbing thing about not supplying
a scorer is that many results may be wrong, as
the book gets passed from player to player with
little regard for accuracy, and some clubs may
have been promoted, or relegated, because
score-books are incorrect.
Those who find it impossible to meet this
very simple request should at least abide by
the league’s cop out – “shall ensure that they
nominate two people to ‘man’ (sic) the scorebox
or scoring table” - i.e. two means two and
those bleating “I’ve done 10 overs” should be big
enough to do the job properly.
Kent League games can last 100 overs and up to
seven hours. Scorers are the only participants of
the game who have to concentrate for a potential
600 balls – plus wides and no balls – even umpires
get a certain degree of respite when they are at
square leg.
And some umpires appear to have accepted the
fact that their side will never provide a scorer
and seem to feel that, to acknowledge those of
the opposition, would be an act of betrayal to
their own side. One, for example, who cannot
be named for legal reasons, signalled to the trees
opposite the score-box during a game rather than
accept the fact that the opposition had a scorer.
And don’t be put off by the rumours going around
that are something along the lines of
“Old Wilsonians are a friendly club with a nice
ground, but their 1st Xl scorer is very strange!”
I’ll end on a radical note, although one I know
both Bromley Common and Sidcup will support
me with. If sides not providing a scorer were
deducted a point, then clubs would surely make
more of an effort. After all, you get penalised for
not providing an umpire, so why not the other
essential official.
And, if this policy had been implemented in
2011, then Sidcup would have finished sixth,
Old Wilsonians third and Bromley Common as
champions. And quite right, too; sides should be
rewarded for complying with the laws of the
game.
Mike Pike
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