ECB Regulation about playing cricket at Rayleigh Cricket Club
Please see the ECB Guidance about playing cricket at the Club which will apply for the foreseeable future. Please read them carefully and do your very best to comply with them as if we do not follow them you may cause harm to another club member and cricket could be stopped for a long time.
Please note that anyone deliberately ignoring these requirements may be asked to leave the field if the occurrence is whilst playing and the ground if after the game.
Before the game
You should not attend if you think you have any symptoms of COVID-19.
All players to come changed and use own equipment or that of another member of the same household. You will need to bring your own tea and drink for the break between the two innings. You should bring hand sanitizer if you can but the Club has a supply of wipes for everyone who needs them.
If playing on the second or third pitches please park in the Council car park and proceed straight to your own ground. You may wish to bring a folding chair to sit on.
The only toilets which will be open are in the changing rooms of the club pavilion.
If it rains go to one’s own car or put on rainwear.
Regulations when playing the actual game
Social distancing. Players should adhere to UK Government social distancing guidance at all times (including throughout warm-ups) except in the following limited circumstances during competitive play in England only, where 1m+ is permitted: 1) wicket keepers standing up to the stumps and 2) distance between slip fielders. Batters are to run in distinct running lines to ensure they are not within 2m of the bowler or other batter. Lines to be marked on the square on either side of the wicket. See diagram attached.
Social distancing must always be maintained including during post-wicket celebrations, drinks breaks and tactical discussions.
Cricket balls. No pre-match catching practice.
No sweat or saliva to be applied to the ball at any time.
Minimise sharing the ball during the match by limiting contact as the ball makes its way back to the bowler e.g. ball goes straight from wicketkeeper to bowler instead of around surrounding fielders. A ‘hygiene break’ should take place every six overs or every 20 minutes, whichever is sooner, in which the ball is cleaned with an anti-bacterial wipe (conforming to BS EN 14476) and all participants’ hands are cleaned using a suitable sanitiser. This routine should also be followed at the start of any drinks break or the close of an innings. The responsibility for sanitising the ball during the match will lie with the fielding captain, not the umpire. Umpires should refrain from any contact with the ball, it should be returned to the base of the stumps at breaks and at fall of wickets.
Equipment
Bowlers should not hand any personal items to the umpire. Bowlers should place these items at the boundary themselves.
Batters to sanitise their bat when leaving the field of play and wicket keepers their gloves.
Officials and Spectators
Umpires should be responsible for the stumps closest to them and should be the only person replacing the bails if dislodged.
If two scorers are required, social distancing must be maintained with only one official inside the scorers’ box and no players to be allowed in the scorers’ box. The scorers’ box should be well ventilated. Communal scorebooks passed from one player to another should be avoided. Separate pages will be supplied for the games on pitches 2 and 3.
Spectators should remain socially distanced at all times and refrain from all contact with the ball e.g. returning it to the field of play. Spectator groups must be restricted to discrete six person gathering limits and spread out, in line with wider UK Government guidance.
After the game
The bar will be open after the match ends but drinks will be served outside the pavilion and drunk on the field with proper social distancing. Please do not congregate in groups of more than 6 and the overall group should not exceed 30. If this happens players for pitch 1 should congregate in front of the pavilion, pitch 2 to the west (Wickford end) and pitch 3 to the East by the net.