Memorandum

To:               Metro Clubs

From:           Mike Fisher

Date:            September 2018

Subject:        Club cricket information for the 2018-19 season

The Christchurch City Council

The CCC has asked us to reiterate to clubs that all communication on ground and pitch issues should be reported to Metro Cricket rather than directly to the CCC. Metro will then action the problem with the CCC immediately.

General

1. Season draws

The draws for the following grades are available on our website: Premiership, Premier Women, Championship, Division One and Division Two grades. The Afternoon grades will be available on Wednesday 26 September. Please note that the venues are not showing in the draws but this problem will be remedied shortly by CricHQ.

2. The Metro Handbook

This document is available on the Metro website in the near future and may be downloaded by sections or in its entirety. A copy will be provided for each team captain.

3. One Day International

There is an ODI between the Black Caps and Bangladesh at Hagley Oval on Saturday 16 February.

ALL Adult or Youth cricket will be played on Sunday 17 February for that weekend.

4. Double Header

There will be a double header weekend on 9-10 February for Premiership, Championship, Division One and Division Two Grades. Premier Women, Afternoon grades and Youth grades will only play on Saturday 9 February.

5. Show Weekend

ALL GRADES will be playing on the Saturday of Show Weekend (18 November)

6. Transfer

The club transfer form must be completed and signed by all parties before the transferring player can play for the new club. The player and the new club are responsible for initiating this process. Forms are available on line and from Metro Cricket.

         7. Results

All results are required to be entered onto the Christchurch Metro website

(www.christchurchmetrocricket.com) by 12 noon on the Monday following match day. Clubs should note that if there is no result entered by that time no points for the day’s play will be allocated. It is the responsibility of a team representative from the winning team to enter the results. Christchurch Metropolitan Adult results may be emailed to mfisher@christchurchmetrocricket.com.

          8. Covers

These are mandatory for Premiership, Championship, Division One and Division Two and Premier Women. Hessian is to be used in these grades. Players in these grades should be conversant with the relevant playing condition in the Club and Youth Handbook. The City Council occasionally report that their mowers have run over pegs from the covers.

This causes considerable damage to the blades and they have indicated that they will be charging the club at fault. Brightly-painted pegs would help to prevent this. Please ask those who are taking off covers that they collect all the pegs used.

9. Grounds Update

9.1 A reminder that the former pitches on Hospital Corner are now named Hagley 1 (the Oval)-2 (the Nursery) -3-4-5.

9.2 Sydenham Park is now available. St Albans Park will continue to be unavailable for the entire season.

9.3 The Ilam Fields will no longer be unavailable for cricket.

9.4 All the artificial pitches receive an annual “spring clean”.

Please note: teams that are drawn to play on artificial pitches will each need to supply a set (one unit) of spring-loaded stumps. Only rubber soled sports shoes can be worn on these surfaces.

        10. Pitch and Umpire Reports

These reports, that are required to be completed by umpires and captains, are available online through the link on the CMCA website. These are to be completed by captains of all teams in Premiership and Premier Women and Championship where officially-appointed umpires stand.

Please note that the format requires the captain to have a login and they should supply their email address to Matt Hill of the Umpires’ Association (matthew@crcua.co.nz). These reports should be with Metro Cricket within 48 hours (Monday) of the completion of the match.

Please note: In an effort to continue to improve our pitch management, these reports will provide the basis of any action that Metro takes if a pitch plays consistently poorly. This may see the withdrawal of that pitch and Metro will provide direct and immediate support to the club’s grounds staff through our Turf Advisor (Chris Lewis) in an effort to work with the club to improve the playing surface. The Pitch and Umpire Report is an important document.

11. Code of Behaviour

Last season CMCA received a number of reports regarding poor player behaviour in matches with no officially-appointed umpires. The Preamble to the Laws of Cricket outlines clearly The Spirit of the Game and it forms the basis of our game; this can also be found in Section 1 of our Handbook. All players should be conversant with this so that our great game can be played within the spirit as well as within the laws of the game.

CMCA has introduced a Code of Behaviour which will be discussed through your club committees and at our pre-season captains’ meetings; see 3.15, page 21.

12. Cancellations

These are available through Newstalk ZB 1098, on our website and through our Facebook.

13. Club Contact

During each Saturday, a Christchurch Metro Cricket contact (Mike Fisher) will be available and on call to answer any concern regarding Club and Youth cricket.

In the event of a dispute, including over pitch conditions, between the captains in a match without officially-appointed umpires, this official is to be contacted. He will visit the ground in question and his decision will be final.

Mike Fisher – 027 2860 419

Women’s cricket

1. Club Finals Day for the Premier Women’s grade – These matches will be played at one venue starting at 10.30am. The play-off for 3 v 4 will be a Twenty20 format starting at 2.00pm.
2. Premier Grade will start on 6 October with the first two rounds played on artificial surfaces.
3. The Kirsty Bond Series will be a eight-a-side series based on club selections. Clubs may enter more than one team. Finishing positions will contribute to Petersen Shield points.
4. From time to time, all Premier grade matches will play at one club venue. This may apply also to Div 1.
5. The schedule for Playing Dates 2018-19 for Div 1 (the Phyl Blackler Series), Youth Women (the Shirley Cowles Series) and Social 8 T20 will be sent out in late September once there has been discussion at the WAG meeting following acceptance of lower grade registrations.

Men’s cricket

1. Club Finals Day will be played at the venue of the top qualifier in each grade (that is, Premiership, Championship, Division 1 and Division 2 Grades). Please note: Certain ground facilities standards are a requirement and Metro reserves the right to move any particular final to the 2^nd placed qualifier if these are not met.
2. A reminder that it is compulsory for at least one scorer to be using a device that provides live scoring on CricHQ in Premiership in matches. Full scoreboards must be entered in all Morning Grades; that is, Premiership, Championship, Division 1, Division 2 and Premier Women’s matches. CMCA can provide support for this.
3. Ground facilities – it is a requirement that Premiership clubs provide changing and catering facilities, and clean, serviced toilets to a satisfactory standard for players and umpires. This includes a covered, sheltered area for Premiership team scorers. If these facilities are not up to a satisfactory standard, Metro reserves the right to move any fixture.
4. Presidents Grade – There will be two Club Days for this grade during the season.
5. CricHQ support is available by contacting Mike Harvey of Metro Cricket.
6. Competitions – Again, in the Afternoon Grades there will be a maximum of eight teams in each grade which will provide three full rounds plus a semi and a final.
7. Defaults – Please note that a “no show” by a team (that is, where a team has not turned up without informing the CMCA and their opposition) will result in that club being fined $400.

Mike Fisher

Operations Manager

Christchurch Metropolitan Cricket

Mob 027 2860 419

mfisher@christchurchmetrocricket.com

Article added: Monday 24 September 2018