All matches shall be played in accordance with the laws of cricket except where shown:

General rules

1. Players should be dressed appropriately.  Cricket whites and suitable white trainers or cricket shoes should be worn for matches
2. U9’s must wear full protective kit.
3. All players under the age of 18 years must wear helmet when batting and when standing up to the stumps whist keeping wicket
4. Matches should start no later than 6.30pm for Under 9, 13 & 17 and 10.30am for Under 11 and 15 unless otherwise stated.
5. The home team shall supply a suitable match ball
6. Failure to return Handbook Details form by 1^st December in the preceding year of the following season will result in a fine of £25 for EACH team in that Club, subsequently entered, up to a maximum of £100.00.
7. Clubs who fail to respond to requests for information from the Colts Committee will be fined £10 per offence.
8. There will be no LBW Rule in the Under 9 competitions.     All other age groups will play LBW as defined in the Laws of Cricket.
9. Non-attendance at the AGM will result in a fine of £25.

Registration of Players

1. Any player selected for a team shall be under the age of 9,11,13,15 or 17 on the 31^st August prior to the season in which games are played
2. Girls may play in Colts Leagues 2 age groups down from their age as at 31^st August prior to the season in which games are played
3. All players should be members of an affiliated NFCCA Club.   Where a Club has an A & B team no player who is included in a representative squad, District or County, shall be allowed to play in the Club’s B team unless given prior permission by the NFCCA Committee.     This will only apply to players involved in representative cricket in the old age group of a two-year band.    The NFCCA will publish a list of players exempt from B teams prior to the season.  For example:  an U11 or U12 District/County player is allowed to play for a Club’s U13B team, however an U13 District/County player can only play in the A team.
4. No player may play for more than one club in a season unless the prior consent of the Colts Secretary is obtained.  However where a Club has no Under 17 team, members of that Club shall be allowed to play at U17 for another Club, with the mutual agreement of the ‘member’ Club only.
5. Evidence of the date of birth of any player must be provided if requested by the Colts Committee.
6. It shall not be permitted for any club to retain points won by a team that includes an ineligible player or players.  Any club found guilty of this offence will forfeit the match and have 5 points deducted.  At the discretion of the Colts Committee points may be awarded to the opposing team.

Protests and Complaints

1. All complaints or protests relating to the Rules of the Competitions or League must be made in writing to the League Secretary within 10 days of the occurrence, accompanied by a fee of £20 for the complaint to be considered by the Colts Committee.    The return of this fee may be made at the discretion of the Colts Committee after the protest or complaint has been resolved.  A complaint form is available from the website as a download.

Umpires

1. Umpires must be provided and stand for the duration of each game, unless the League appoints the umpires.

League Divisions

1. The colts committee will run leagues for teams at Under 9, 11, 13, 15 & 17 age groups.    
   Each age group will be divided into North and South Divisions where possible.   The committee however will use their discretion should the entries for the forthcoming season not make this viable, in which case there will be one league for that age group.
   For those playing 11 aside at U11, their will be one league regardless of area.
2. A club which withdraws a team from any Colts league after 31 December prior to the season to be played shall be liable to a fine of £25.00 for each team withdrawn

Honouring league fixtures

1. League matches may not be re-arranged except if they have had to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.  They can then be re-arranged to be played no later than 14 days from the date of the original fixture, and only with the mutual agreement of both clubs involved.
2. The NFJCA, at its discretion, will also consider other matches to be re-arranged due to ‘exceptional circumstances’.  Clubs must contact the League Secretary and the opposing team no later than 14 days prior to the due fixture date to request the re-arrangement and giving the reason why.  The NFJCA Committee will be consulted and both teams notified of their decision.  Permission will NOT be granted if this rule is not adhered to and Clubs, granted permission, must then give their opposition a choice of at least 2 dates for re-arrangement.  
3. If a team fails to honour a fixture it will result in a fine of £10 and a deduction of 5 points
4. An additional default will result in a fine of £10 and a deduction of 10 points
5. A further additional default will result in a fine of £15 and the team will be expelled from the league.  The playing record of a team expelled from the league will be expunged as will matches played and points won against such teams

Reporting of Match Results

1. The home team shall be responsible for ensuring that the Result Sheet reaches the appropriate results secretary
2. Result sheets must be sent to the results secretary within 4 days of the match being played or cancelled.
3. Results sheets for each match played, including cup matches, shall be completed in detail and forwarded to the results secretary.  If a match is not played for any reason (including the weather) a results sheet must be sent to the results secretary stating the reason why the match was not played.
4. Failure to honour these rules will result in a fine of £10.     Should this fine not be paid within 14 days of receipt of the notice of the original fine then a further fine will be imposed of £20.     Failure to pay both fines within 28 days of the original notification will then result in the addition of a 10 point deduction.
5. If a match is abandoned after a minimum of 10 overs being bowled in the second innings, the result shall be on the score after 10 overs of each team innings.

Determining league positions

1. The number of points gained by a team shall be divided by the number of completed matches to give an average number of points per game
2. The team with the highest average will be the League Champions
3. In the event of an identical average the winning team shall be the one with the highest average number of runs per innings
4. Where there are North and South Leagues, the teams with the highest averages will compete in the play-offs to find the eventual winner of that League
5. Arrangements for the League play-offs will be made by the Colts Committee

Presentation of Trophies

1. All cups won by the League and Cup winners remain the property of the Colts section.
2. Presentation to League and Cup winners will be made on the day of the League Play offs (for all League trophies) or on the day of the Cup Matches at the location for the said matches.
3. Cups or trophies will be competed for annually and will never become the outright property of any member club
4. Clubs shall be held responsible for the loss or damage to Trophies whilst in their custody and shall be responsible for insurance as necessary to cover this liability
5. Whilst a Club holds a Cup they shall have it engraved with their name and year of winning at their own expense
6. The Colts Section shall provide 12 individual awards for the winners and runners-up, for each for the Under 11, Under 13 and Under 15 Cup competitions and 9 each for the Under 9 Cup competition.
7. The Colts Section shall provide 12 individual awards for the winners and runners-up for the U11 (11 aside), U13, 15 league and U17 competitions, and 9 for the U9’s & U11’s (8 aside pairs Leagues).
8. The winners of the individual Under 17 trophies will also be presented at the venue for the Cup Matches, providing the Under 17 League has been completed.
9. Clubs must return League and Cup trophies to the League Secretary by the end of June of the following season.  Failure to a return a trophy shall result in a fine of £20.00

Format of League Competitions

Under 9 & 11 League Matches (pair’s cricket)

1. The pitch shall be 18 yards (U9) and 20 yards (U11) in length
2. A ball in suitable condition must be provided by the Home Club for each match.
3. U11’s shall play with a ball that weighs 4.75 ozs.  U9’s will play with an incrediball
4. Each team shall comprise of 8 players
5. Each match shall consist of one innings per team.  Each innings shall be of 16 overs duration.
6. The batting team shall be divided into pairs.  Each pair shall bat for four overs.  Pairs shall retire at the end of the 4^th, 8^th and 12^th overs
7. Batsmen shall have unlimited ‘lives’ during their innings but each ‘life’ shall result in 5 runs being deducted from the total.  Batsman shall change ends at the fall of each wicket, with the ‘out’ batsman going to the non strikers end,  except when a wicket falls on the last ball of an over
8. Each player on the fielding team must bowl, with the exception of the wicket keeper.  However, if desired the wicket keeper may also bowl but no player shall bowl more than 3 overs.
9. Each team shall commence its innings with a score of 200 runs
10. The winning team shall be the team scoring the highest number of runs after the deduction for the fall of wickets and shall receive 10 points.   One bonus point shall be awarded for every 10 runs by which the adjusted score exceeds 200 to a maximum of 5 points
11. In matches no fielder, except the wicket keeper, shall be allowed to field nearer than 11 yards measured from the middle stump, except behind the wicket on the off side
12. In accordance with the Laws of Cricket a substitute shall be allowed to take the field of an injured player.  Such substitute shall only act as a fielder whilst his team is fielding.  Any over(s) that would have been bowled by an injured player shall be shared between the remaining players without exceeding their allocation
13. Should a team be unable to provide 8 players, the final pair may be made up using a previous batsman who will bat as normal.  Any runs scored by a substitute batsman will not count in the run total, but 5 runs will be deducted if a batsman is dismissed.  The game cannot take place with less than 7 players in either team
14. The bowling of Wides and no balls. Wides and no balls as defined in the Laws of Cricket will be penalised by awarding 2 (two) runs to the batting team.  An extra ball will not be bowled.  However in the 16^th over of each innings 2 (two) runs will be awarded to the batting team and an extra ball will be bowled.    Additional runs can be scored.
15. There will be no LBW Rule for the Under 9’s but LBW, as defined in the Rules of Cricket, will be played at Under 11.

U11 (11 aside), U13, U15 & U17 league matches

1. The Pitch shall be 20 yards in length for U11, 22 yards for U13, U15 and U17.
2. A ball in suitable condition must be provided by the Home Club for each match.  It shall weigh 4.75oz for U11 & U13 and shall be full size for U15 & 17.
3. Each team to consist of 11 players
4. Each innings consists of 18 overs for U11’s, U15’s & U17’s.
   For U13’s, each innings consists of 18 overs, or one hour whichever is completed soonest.  The team batting last shall be entitled to receive the same number of overs as the team batting first.  If the team batting first are bowled out before 18 overs have been bowled, then the team batting second shall be entitled to receive the full 18 overs.
5. No player shall bowl more than 4 overs
6. Retiring. A batsman must retire when they reach 25 runs for under 11’s, 30 runs for under 13, 40 runs for under 15’s and 50 runs for U17’s.  They can return to the crease in the event of their side being dismissed within the set overs.  Retired batsmen must return in the order of their retirement
7. The winning side shall be the side scoring the most runs.  Where the scores are level the points will be shared, wickets lost will not be taken into consideration.  10 points will be awarded for a win.  Bonus points will be awarded as shown.

Under 11 (11 aside), U13, U15 & U17 Batting and Bowling points