Quad Cities Premier League

Rules

Cricket owes much of its appeal and enjoyment to the fact that it should be played not only according to the Laws (which are incorporated within these Playing Conditions), but also within the Spirit of Cricket. The major responsibility for ensuring fair play rests with the captains but extends to all players & match officials. Respect is center to the Spirit of Cricket. Respect your captain, team-mates, opponents, and the umpires. Create a positive atmosphere by your own conduct and encourage others to do likewise. Show selfdiscipline, even when things go against you. Congratulate the opposition on their successes and enjoy those of your own team. Cricket is an exciting game that encourages leadership, friendship, and teamwork, which brings together people from different cultures, and religions, especially when played within the Spirit of Cricket.

Start time & Toss:
1. The umpires shall go in for toss at pitch 10 minutes before the scheduled start of play. They should reach on the ground 15 minutes before.
2. The teams should have a minimum of 7 registered players on the ground to be able to go for toss, failing which the team with a minimum of 7 players shall be awarded the Toss.
3. If both teams do not have the minimum number of players, the first team to show up with 7 players shall be awarded the Toss.
4. The game must start on time with minimum 7 players from each team. Otherwise, the team responsible for delay will be docked 1 over for every 10 min (In case they are fielding).
5. The maximum time a match can be delayed is 30 min and the team responsible for the delay will be penalized as described above.
6. If the match cannot be started even after 30 min, the team having min. of 7 players available at the ground will be awarded the game.
7. The decision to bat or bowl shall be conveyed to the umpire at the time of toss mandatorily (New Rule).
8. Captains can declare their teams after the decision for Bat / Bowl is done. (New Rule)
9. There will be 2 games are planned both Saturday and Sunday.
  1. 9.30 AM – 1.30 PM
  2. 1.30 PM – 5.30 PM
10. All fielding teams must complete the required 20 overs in 110 Mins, this includes one 5 mins break after 10 overs.
11. The innings break would be for 20 minutes (It can be reduced if needed by umpires).
12. Total playing time for a game (Including all breaks) would be 240 minutes.
13. If fielding team is not able to finish all 20 overs within 110 mins, then remaining overs will be deducted from their quota when they come to bat (1 Over every 5 min delay). (This applicable for the first inning of the match)
14. In the second inning, if fielding team not able to finish their 20 overs within 110 Mins, they will be penalized for remaining overs in their next game irrespective of situation. Such communication should be done in captains’ group after the weekend. No captain can oppose that.
15. There will be a buffer time of 15 min every game, which should be only used against injury time. Only umpires can decide if it was legitimate to use that buffer time.
16. If any unfortunate injury happened and time is lost, Umpires should reduce/cancel break time for the game to cover lost time.
Umpiring Delay & Penalties: We all agree that umpiring quality needs to be improved for a good fair competitive tournament. Hence all teams should follow below points.
1. The umpires shall go in for toss at pitch 10 minutes before the scheduled start of play. They should reach on the ground 15 minutes before.
2. If any team umpire does not show on the ground on time (Before first ball of game bowled), that team will be penalized for cut of 1 over for every 5 mins in their next game. They will need to play with the deducted number of overs in their next game. (No exceptions in this case i.e. Train/Traffic etc.).
  1. If no umpire is there, then both captains can go for toss and be prepared to start the game on time.
  2. As soon as one umpire showed up, teams can start the match by taking batting team player as leg umpire.
  3. Both team captains need to communicate in captains group for delay of umpires and how many overs the culprit team is going suffer in next game.
3. Umpires needs to start a stopwatch as soon as the first ball bowled to manage the time limit and note the game start time.
4. If fielding team bowler is all set and batsman’s is taking time unnecessarily, umpires should add up that time for batting team.
5. All captains are expected to setup a meeting within the team and go over this rules document with every player
6. Whoever player is coming for umpiring should go through the rules before coming for umpiring.
7. Umpires should have this rule book handy when they come for umpiring.
8. After completion of match, if any captain feels the umpiring was not up to the mark, they can report about that umpire to the QCPL committee.
Power play Rule:
1. There will be total six overs of powerplay.
2. The first 2 overs are mandatory powerplay.
3. Two overs of mandatory batting power play and Two overs of mandatory bowling power play to be FINISH by the respective teams before the start of the 16th over.
4. Umpires needs to make sure they finish all powerplay overs before start of 16th Over. Its also responsibility of Batting team to remind umpires about Powerplay overs in case umpires missed it.
5. If somehow Umpires and Batting team missed to execute powerplay, then remaining powerplay overs will be forfeited.
6. Only two Fielders can be outside the 30-yard circle during power play.
7. The field restrictions will be same for all powerplay overs i.e., 2 fielders allowed outside the 30 yards line.
8. If any team does not take their power play overs before 12 th over, then 12 th over onwards remaining powerplay overs should be accommodated mandatorily.
  1. (Example) If all four (2 Batting & 2 Bowling) powerplay overs are remaining before start of 12 th Over, then umpires need ensure over number 12 th – 15 th should be powerplay overs
  2. (Example) If one of the powerplay is remaining before start of 14 th Over, then 14 th & 15 th over should be considered as powerplay overs.
Field Restrictions Rules:
1. Apart from power play overs, fielding team can have Max. 5 fielders outside 30-yard circle.
2. Throughout the game, there should be Min. 4 fielders should be inside the 30-yard circle.
3. At the instant of delivery, there should not be more than 5 fielders on the leg side at any time (Bowler doesn’t count). If so, that ball should be considered as NO BALL(Follow Rule 7). Next ball will be awarded as Free Hit.
4. At the instant of the bowler’s delivery there shall not be more than two fielders, other than the wicket-keeper, behind the popping crease on the leg side. If so, that ball should be considered as NO BALL (Follow Rule 7). Next ball will be awarded as Free Hit.
5. In the event of interference of this clause by any fielder while at the instant of bowler’s delivery, the leg umpire shall call and signal No ball. Next ball will be awarded as Free Hit.
6. Any movement by any fielder, excluding the wicketkeeper, after the ball comes into play and before the ball reaches the striker, is unfair except for the following.
  1. Minor adjustments to stance or position in relation to the striker’s wicket.
  2. Movement by any fielder, other than a close fielder, towards the striker or the striker’s wicket (cannot be sideways movement) that does not significantly alter the position of the fielder.
  3. Movement by any fielder in response to the stroke that the striker is playing or that his actions suggest he intends to play.
  4. In the event of such unfair movement, either umpire shall call that ball as No Ball and inform the other umpire of the reason for doing so. The bowler’s end umpire shall award a free hit next delivery.
7. In the event of game, if any closing fielders shadow is coming on the pitch, then he cannot make any moment at the instant of the bowler’s delivery. Umpires can first warn that fielder for not doing such moment, or else they can award a No Ball.
8. If any fielder is fielding on the boundary and he completes a catch close to boundary, he should stay on his position till umpires confirm he is inside the boundary. If he is not able to manage his position after completing the catch, umpires are free to give Batsman not out.
Impact Player Rule: The Impact Player rule is that a team can bring in an Impact Player at any point in the match to replace a player from the playing 11 during the match. After toss teams will declare playing 11 and name 2 substitutes (Which will be knows as Impact Players).
1. In QCPL ONE nominated substitute player can be used as an Impact Player in the match at any time.
2. It is expected from all the teams to show fair play and try to get 12 or more players ready to play the match.
3. An Impact Player can be brought in before the start of an innings, at the end of an over, at the fall of a wicket, or when a batter retires.
4. If the impact player is a bowler who comes in at the fall of a wicket, he is not allowed to bowl the remaining balls of the over.
5. If a player gets injured, he can be replaced by an Impact Player. In such cases, the "replaced player" will play no further part in the game.
6. The captain will nominate the Impact Player and inform the on-field umpire before making the change.
7. The Impact Player can bat and or bowl his full quota of four overs, irrespective of the player he is replacing.
8. The player who gets replaced by Impact player cannot take part in the game after.
Bowling Restrictions:
1. Team must use minimum 5 bowlers in an innings.
2. Any bowler can bowl maximum 4 overs.
3. A bowler can bowl just one bouncer per over.
  1. If a bowler bowls the ball which goes over the head of batsman, and batsman hits it, it should be consider as 1st bouncer. If batsman leave that ball and it will be called wide ball.
    1. If that delivery called a Wide Ball, still qualifies one bouncer of that over.
  2. If bowlers bowl 2nd bouncer in the same over, it will be called a no ball irrespective of if played by the batsman or not.
No Ball Rule:
1. Main umpire should always check for Foot no ball.
  1. Front Foot No Ball – The heel of the bowler's front foot lands on or in front of the popping crease (the front line of the batting crease)
  2. Side Foot No Ball – If the bowler's back foot touches sideline of popping crease (the side line of the box)
2. Leg umpire should always check for High Full Toss No Ball.
  1. A full toss - a ball which does not bounce - from a bowler reaches the batsman at waist height.
  2. Leg Umpire needs to make sure that batter was inside the batting crease at the time of impact of the ball.
  3. Even, if batsman is outside of the crease then also umpire can call it a No ball, if he think it would have been above the waist line once it reach to batting crease.
3. If a ball bouncing more than twice or rolling along the ground should be called as No Ball.
4. If bowler breaks the non-striker stumps while delivering the ball should be called as No Ball.
5. If bowler bowls a second bouncer in the over (Refer Rule 6.3) then it should be called a No ball.
6. Limitation of fielder’s position for No Ball
  1. Leg Umpire should call No Ball in below scenarios.
    1. If there are more than 2 fielders on the leg side behind the wicket (Excluding Keeper)
    2. If there are more than 5 fielders on the leg side at any time during the innings, irrespective of bowler bowling Round the wicket or over the wicket.
    3. There must be minimum 4 fielders in the inner circle at any time during the innings (Excluding bowler & keeper)
    4. Any major position movement by any fielder (minor adjustments to stance or position or taking start is fine), excluding the wicketkeeper, after the ball comes into play and before the ball reaches the striker shall be called a No Ball o Any additional head high bouncer after the 1st bouncer in an over will be a No Ball.
7. If a ball is pitching wholly or partially outside the pitch area(Turf/Mat) then it should be called as No Ball.
8. Bolwer is allowed to continue bowling even after bowling 2 beamers.
Free Hit Rule:
1. If a ball is No Ball, then batsman is awarded with Free hit.
2. Batsman can be only RUN OUT on a free hit delivery.
  1. Batsman cannot be Stumped on a free hit, but If the batsman came out of his crease during a free hit, and the keeper manages to make the ball touch the ground first and then proceeds to stump the batsman, this will be considered as a runout.
3. If a free hit delivery is WIDE or NO BALL, then the next ball will also be a free hit.
Run Out Rule:
1. A batsman is Run out, if at any time while the ball is in play, no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the fielding side.
2. If batsman trying to attempt a run on a leg bye, he can be run out if the ball is in play.
3. Batsman cannot walk out of his crease unless ball is dead or he informed (make a gesture to) leg umpire/Keeper about leaving his crease.
4. Batsman needs to inform either the wicket keeper or square leg umpire that you are leaving your crease may be to check the pitch or talk to the other batsman but not with an intention to take a run.
5. To take better decision on Run Outs, Umpires should always try to be in good position to see the event (Main umpire should move aside to see the line correctly).
6. During a run out incident, if the bails are already dropped and again fielding team tried to run out a batsman on the same wickets, they need to up-root any of the stump by holding the ball in the hand.
7. NO MANKADING ALLOWED – In QCPL we are not allowing Mankading, however a bowler can warn a batsman if he is observed to be taking unfair advantage before the ball is bowled, in such cases if this happened 2nd time umpires can put a 5 run penalty to the batting team. (Umpires needs to assess the situation and talk to leg umpire and have conclusive evidence that batsman is attempting to leave the crease before bowler is delivering the ball)
Wide Ball Rule:
1. Anything goes on the leg side of the batsman should be called a wide ball.
2. If a batsman tries to Reverse Hit/Switch Hit/Batter Moving before the delivery, in that case the umpire should not call a ball wide on the leg-side unless it’s not in reach of the batsman.
3. For Example: A Right-Hand Batsman tries to reverse sweep, then if the ball goes to his original (Instance at the time of delivery) leg side, it cannot be called a wide ball, unless it is too wide on either side of the wicket (Passing wide line).
4. If the ball goes above batsman’s head height after bouncing, then that ball is called a wide. Also, that should be consider 1 bouncer for the over.
Super Over Rule:
1. If both teams remain on the same score after completion of second innings 20th over, there will be a super over played.
2. Both teams need to declare their bowler and 3 batters who will take part in super over.
3. The team, which was batting second, will bat first in the super over.
4. Max 5 fielders can be outside in super over.
5. The loss of two wickets shall end the batting team’s one over innings.
6. If the Super Over is a tie, subsequent Super Overs shall be played until a winner is determined, but the players took part in earlier super over cannot Bat or Bowl.
Caught behind decisions:
1. Main umpire should take the call for Caught Behind.
2. Main umpire cannot consult leg umpire, whether the ball touched the bat or not.
3. Main umpire can only check with leg umpire, if the catch is taken clean or not.
Players:
1. A player must play min of 3 league games to be eligible to play in the play-offs.
2. A player can retire only in case if he is injured during the game. (Both umpired needs to discuss and should have conclusive evidence of player injury).
3. An Impact player can replace an injured player.
4. No Runner is provided in case of injury to batsman during play.
Rain Interruption Rule:
1. If there is continues rain going on before the game and weather radar is showing further rain, in that situation both team captains & umpires for that game should talk together (call / whatsapp) and take decision to play or not.
2. If there was rain before the game, but it stopped now and not much rain predicted afterwards, In this situation both team and umpire should go to ground and see the playing condition. Umpires can take call to go ahead for the match with captain’s consents. However, players safety should be priority.
3. If there is rain around in the day and 2 games planned to be completed.
  1. A match is allowed to delay the start for Max 1 hour.
  2. In the case, if game is delayed, the number of overs should be reduced to 16 overs* (See rule 14). No match less than 16 overs is considered valid in QCPL 2024.
  3. Ex - If team A & B has match at 9:30 AM and due to rain or other playing conditions game can be delayed max up to 10:30 AM.
  4. If game does on start within 1 hour of scheduled time, then that game should be called off, and a re-match should be played before next week’s league game (See Rule 13.4.1.2).
  5. Teams which are playing the games later in that day can talk with each other & umpires and play their games 16 overs* a side, if they feel time is not enough for a 20 overs game.
4. If there a match underway and we have rain interrupted play-
  1. If second innings 10 overs are NOT completed.
  2. Umpires needs to check if there is further game possibility, if yes then teams should wait for umpires call for game to resume.
  3. Umpires should check, there should not be significant change in playing conditions.
  4. The delay should not be more than 30 mins.
  5. The match will be resumed.
  6. Duckworth Lewis (DLS) should not be considered as the situation is before second innings 10 over.
  7. If game is resumed and 10 overs completed and again interrupted by rain then Rule 14.4.2 will come in play.
  8. If there are no further possibilities to resume game (Based on amount of rain / Bad Playing conditions / More rain predicted on radar), then umpire should call off the game.
  9. Once the game is called off. Both teams need to replay (Re-match from start with new toss and can change the lineup) the match before the next weeks league games (Any given weekday, Rule 14.5).
5. If second innings 10 overs are completed.
  1. Umpires should wait at least 30 min and assess the situation (Check further weather forecast / Playing conditions) for game to be resume.
  2. If there is no possibility of game to resume, in that case Duckworth Lewis (DLS) should be checked on Cricclubs app which will decide the winner.
  3. Once 10 overs of second innings completed, no team can request for a re-match
6. If game got abandoned due to rain
  1. In such situation, both teams must agree upon playing the game in the weekday.
  2. Both captains need to discuss and agreed upon a weekday for the game.
  3. Weekday game will be played for 16 overs a side (Check Rule 14*).
  4. Game must be played and completed before next week regular games.
  5. If any team is unable to play due to any reason, the other team will be awarded the 2 points.
  6. If the game is not possible in that week due to continue rain, it should be completed in next 2 week.
  7. If teams have chosen a weekday to play and there are other teams practice session scheduled on that day, in that case the teams which are playing the match should swap their practice sessions with other teams whose practice is affected.
*16 over Game Rules:
1. If game is played for 16 overs a side below are the basic rules to be applied.
  1. The batting and bowling power play to be reduce to 1-1 over each.
  2. All power plays to be completed before 12th over instead of 14th.
  3. Teams can use min 5 bowlers instead of Six.
  4. Only 1 bowler can bowl max 4 overs.
  5. No break in between innings allowed.
  6. Just 5 minutes innings change break is allowed.
Fair Play Team Award:
1. We are introducing a new award for Fair play.
  1. Both teams receive 10 points at the start of a match
  2. 4 points - adherence to the "spirit of the game
  3. 2 points - Respect towards the opposition
  4. 2 points - Adherence to the laws of QCPL cricket.
  5. 2 points - Respect towards the umpires.
2. 1After completion of the game, on field umpire will give points to each team based on the pointing system shared in Rule 16.1.
3. Both Umpires should talk to each other and agreed upon the points to be given to each team.
4. Both captains should be informed separately by umpires, how many points the team received. Also, umpires will share the same number with one of the QCPL committee member to maintain in the record book.
Other Rules:
1. In case of one or more teams has same points in the points table, top teams’ hierarchy will be finalized based on the run rate details provided in cricclubs app.
2. All team players must wear the team jerseys during the match. No player shall be allowed by umpires if they are not wearing their team jerseys.
3. We dont have any restrictions on Bats or Bat Size.

Note: -

All ICC rules stand where applicable if not stated above otherwise.
In case of any dispute on any rule, QCPL committee reserve rights to clarify that rule. Committee can also take decision and inform respective team about their decision which should be considered as final.
Teams playing the 1st match of the day need to report to the ground ½ hr. before start time to help with the ground set-up.
All teams need to send their Umpires on the ground at least 15 mins before the start of the game.