LMS Rules

Cricket is known as "The Gentleman's Game". The cricket rules below, may differ slightly from those derived by the ICC (i.e. to ensure all players get maximum reward for their two hour game) yet we feel it's important to note that it should still be played in the right manner..."The Spirit of Cricket".

Below is a list of the Last Man Stand's cricket rules, a side from the below, the general ICC laws of limited over cricket apply.

 (© Copyright Lastmanstands.com 2005-2010)  

Section I:

A.) LAST MAN STANDS RULE All 8 wickets are needed to bowl a team out. When the seventh wicket falls, the Last Man Stands (on his own) The Last Man can only score 2, 4 or 6 off any ball. The ball is only dead when the batsman is behind the popping crease at the strikers end of pitch. When the Last Man Stands, he / she can only be run out at the keepers end.

B.) DOUBLE PLAY RULE Two players can be dismissed off the same delivery. CAUGHT OUT and RUN OUT: When the striker is out caught .The non striker has to remain or return to the bowlers end of pitch. The ball is only dead when the non striker has grounded his bat at the bowlers end of the pitch. There is NO double play rule when a batsman is given out, L.B.W., stumped or bowled. (The bowler is awarded the caught wicket, and the team is awarded the run out wicket.)

C.) FIVE BALLS PER OVER MAXIMUM OF 6 BALLS IN AN OVER

D.) PENALTY BALLS A penalty ball is a wide or a no ball. The 1st penalty ball results in one extra run for the batsman, and one extra ball for the bowler. The second penalty ball results in three extra runs for the batsman, but no extra balls for the bowler. Except for the Last Over of an innings.

D1.) Wide a ball that the bastmen can not reach. Any delivery that goes past the leg stump is deemed a wide. Any delivery passed the marker on the offside is deemed a wide, the umpires discretion is permitted. Any delivery above the batsmens head is deemed a wide. (If you hit a delivery, that would have been deemed a wide, the ball is no longer a wide.)

D2.) No ball If the bowlers' front foot over steps the bowling crease it is a No Ball. Full tosses that pass the bastmen ABOVE waist height are deemed a 'No Ball' - these are to be called by the LMS Official and not the square leg umpire. The 2nd Shoulder high delivery is deemed a No Ball. Any ball that bounces 3 times before reaching the batsmen's crease is a No Ball.  

D2.1) ONE 'SHOULDER HIGH BALL' PER OVER After a ball has passed shoulder height, the umpire is too indicate 'one' for the over. All balls shoulder height there after will be deemed a NO BALL.

D2.2) FREE HIT ALL NO BALLS will result in a FREE HIT on the following delivery for the batsman i.e. he can not be bowled, LBW, Stumped or Caught off the next ball.

• If a Penalty Ball is bowled at the end of the over, the 1st ball of the very next over is a FREE HIT.
• If a Penalty Ball is bowled during a FREE HIT, the batsmen receives the extra 3 runs (and any extra runs he gets off that ball eg. wide that goes for 4 = 7, or no ball that gets hit for six = 9) and the Free Hit is carried over to the next ball, even if the next ball is in the next over.
• You can not be Bowled, LBW, Stumped or Caught off a FREE HIT.

E.) LAST OVER In the Last Over of an innings all penalty balls will result in 1 extra ball and only 1 run, i.e. there is no limit to balls bowled and only one run is added to all Penalty Balls. 

Example 1: if a wide is bowled on the 5th ball the batsmen gets 1 run,  the bowler then bowls another ball, which is also a wide, the bowler bowls another ball and the batsmen gets 1 run.

F.) MAXIMUM OF 4 OVERS PER BOWLER

G.) BOWLERS RUN UP IS RESTRICTED TO 12 METRES from the STUMPS for Day Matches  & 10 METRES from the stumps for Night Matches. No walking in is permitted i.e. walking and running must start from or before the mark.

H.) FIELDING RESTRICTIONS A maximum of three fielders on each side of the pitch at all times (ie.3 fielders on offside and three on onside) The wicket keeper has to be within 15 metres of the stumps (i.e. keeper not long stop)

I.) TIME RESTRICTIONS A team has 65 minutes to bowl their 20 overs. 4 minutes change over between innings. The refs will be strict on this. Due to this rule, no queries (except wicket appeals) will be taken during an over - the umpire/scorer will announce the score at the end of each over. Keep queries with umpire to a minimum and only at the end of an over.

I.1) PENALTIES FOR NOT BOWLING OVERS IN TIME When fielding first - Every over bowled after 65 min will be deducted from your batting innings eg. if 2 overs are bowled after 65 min, your team will only receive 18 overs when batting. When fielding second - for each  over you do not bowl the opposition will receive 20 runs. The umpire will consider valid time delays in the equation.

I.2) FALL OF WICKET The next batsmen in has only two minutes to get to the crease before being time out. (Next batsmen should be at square leg umpire)

J.) SQUARE LEG UMPIRE Only decides run outs & stumpings. The square leg umpire is the responsibility of the next batsmen into bat. Only one person may stand as Square Leg umpire at any one time. Should there be no square leg umpire, it becomes the Wicket Keepers responsibility to make a fair judgment. (And we all know what keepers are like).

L.) RETIRE @ 50 Once a batsman has 50 runs to his name, he has to retire. He may return to bat should all other wickets fall. When returning to the crease he must take up the crease position of leaving batsman. The Last Man Stands play rule only comes into play once 7 wickets have been taken. 

L.1) Retire before 50. Players are not allowed to retire before they reach 50 runs unless otherwise agreed by the opposition captain. If it is obvious a player has a serious injury then the opposing captain and umpire may consult and permit the player to retire. (We hope common sense from both teams will prevail.)

L.2) Hit wicket -  If a player hit his wicket or stands on his wicket, the fielding captain has the right to challenge the fall of the wicket, if he deems the incident was deliberate action by the batsmen to get out. In the event of a challenge the umpire is then forced to reverse the decision. The ball counts as a legal delivery and a dot ball and the player concerned must continue batting. (This rule is in place to ensure that players do not purposely hit the wicket to get a retired batsman back at the crease.) 

M.) RAIN AFFECTED GAMES Every 3 and a half minutes off the field will result in an over being lost in the game. Both teams have to bat a minimum of 8 over to constitute a game (with respect to rain reduced games). Duckworth and Lewis system will not be used. Revised totals will be calculated on a runs per over basis.

N.) CLOTHING & EQUIPMENT Each team is to wear an identical team uniform. (To receive the Clothing Bonus Point, teams must wear the Official LMS Shirt - starting 2008) Coloured clothing is acceptable, provided the whole team are wearing it. Each team is to provide their own equipment. Three sets of batting pads, three sets of batting gloves, three thigh guards, three boxes, two bats, one pair of keeping gloves are the bare minimum required. Boxes are to be worn at all times by keepers and batsmen. Batsmen are advised to wear helmets. Balls, stumps, bails, boundaries are all provided by Last Man Stands. 

O.) RISK All games are played at your own risk. Last Man Stands, will not be held liable for any damage to property or injury, caused during a game, to one self or a third party.

P.) Weather Please assume all games are ON until you hear from LMS

 SECTION II:

A.) Player Qualification Criteria in League finals

Please contact your city manager to find out the local rule with regards players playing for the first time in the final.

B.) Player Qualification Criteria National Champions Leagues:

1. Players must have played at least one game in the current season to be eligible to play in the 1/4 finals of National Champions League!
2. If a player does not meet above he will still be eligible to play if he has played at least 5 career games for that team.

If a team does not have enough players to fill a team for a league cup final or National Champions league match and needs to bring in a player who has not met either of the above requirements then Last Man Stands management must be informed before the game. LMS management then have the final decision. If Last Man Stands organisers are comfortable that the replacement player is not there to purely to bolster the team they will give the player clearance and the opposition will be informed about the situation. The "ringer" will only be allowed to bowl two overs and be forced to bat number 8, unless the opposition are happy to allow the ringer to play full part in the game.

Please note : players needs to have recieved stats and must be registered for the team for above to apply. If he played a game but did not recieve stats for that game because he was not registered then this will not count as a game for the purpose of the above!

C.) Player Qualification Criteria for World Championship:

Teams need to have played at least 4 games of Last Man Stands in 2010 if they would like to enter the World Championship on the Gold Coast in November 2010. Squads will be limited to 10 players and a minimum of 4 players taking the field must have played at least 3 career games of LMS for the team to be eligible to enter the World Championship.

D.) Tied Matches in Knock Out game = LMS Bowl Off

Each team will have 5 players bowl legitimate balls at the wickets. No batsmen will stand. The team that knocks down the stumps most wins the match. If after 5 balls teams are tied then the golden wicket rule applies, and as soon as one team hits and one team misses the game is won. The remaining three bowlers must bowl before the other 5 bowlers.

SECTION III:

A.) League Table points

There are four methods to score points on the league table:

• 5 points for a win
• 3 points for a tie/or rained out game ( + 1 clothing BP if team has picked up clothing bp in more than 80% of their games )
• 2 bonus points - ie 20% rule
• 1 clothing bonus point

B.) Bonus Points 20% Rule 

To receive a bonus point the winning team has to win by a margin of more than 20% and the losing team needs to lose by a margin of less than 20.1%. Therefore only one team can get the 2 bonus points on offer.

Example:

If Team A bats first and score 100. They then bowl Team B out for 79, Team A receives the bonus points.

If Team A bats first and score 100. Team B then scores 101, before 16 overs are COMPLETED in the innings , Team B receive the bonus points. So to clarify... the score needs to be chased down before the 80th official ball is bowled in innings. If the score is chased down in 79 balls then you get the bonus points. If the score is chased down on the last ball of the 16th over (ie 80th ball) you do not get the bonus points.

D.) Clothing Bonus Points

To receive a clothing bonus point, a team must have official Last Man Stands coloured shirts and matching shorts (or trousers, pants, longs etc). All 8 players must be in uniform. The refs decision is final.   

E.) Rained Out Matches

Will be rescheduled where possible. However, if they can not be rescheduled, each team will be awarded 50 runs after 20 overs with no wickets lost.

F.) Forfeits

Teams cancelling will have -2 points taken from them on the league table. The opposition will receive a full 7 points for the game, but no clothing bonus point. This will reflect as 50-0. Team arriving will be awarded 50 runs after 20 overs with out loss, batting 1st and Forfeit team will be awarded 0  after 1 over for 8 wickets. Clothing bonus points for the non forfeiting team (if they have recieved clothing bp in 80% of games in that season).

G.) Teams

The maximum number of players in any team is 8. Players may not be substituted during a game. If a player is injured during the game, another player may field in his place but may not bowl or bat. Team Organisers must register all their players on the website before the game.

SECTION IV:

*** Please make all amendment requests via email to keep a written record. (Late cancellations should be followed up with a call to the league manager). ***

A.) TIME RESCHEDULING FEE

If a team requests a game time to be recheduled, to be fair to the opposition, a team needs to give 10 DAYS NOTICE prior to the scheduled game. 1/2 match fees are applicable for time changes within this period.

Time reschedules within this period can not be guaranteed, as it's dependent on the opposition team accomodating you. If they are not able to accomodate your time change, please see details below of Postponement / Cancellation fees.

B.) CANCELLATION/ POSTPONEMENT FEE

* Please note that the Fixture Reminder emails are for the use and benefit of the Team Organiser. Non availability via them does not inform the League Manager. Recheduling and Cancellations must be done via email directly with the League Manager, 10 days prior to your match. Late cancellations must be followed up with verbally.

Unless, you have given 10 DAYS NOTICE prior to your match you will be charged your full match fees for the game cancelled. If a team pulls out of the fixture on the day of the game (or does not show up) they will be required to pay match fees for both teams.  (LMS still have field, umpire and league manager costs and when teams pull out with such short notice the reputation of the Last Man Stands league takes a hit and costs ratios of running the league are increased). We hope that teams understand that this rule is in place to protect you, teams and the league - There is nothing worse than turning up for a game and the opposition dont turn up !

If you have given 10 days notice and the game can not be recheduled, for whatever reason, there will be NO CHARGE, but your team will forfeit the match. 

C.) NO SHOW

 1st Offence -  Match fees x two paid & minus 2 points

2nd Offence - Match fees x two paid & minus 4 points

3rd Offence - Match fees x two teams paid & team gets replaced in league and gets sent an invoice to settle the balance on the team statement for the scheduled league games.

 D.) DISCIPLINE 

Cricket is a gentlemans game.

No player is to swear or abuse the umpire in any way what so ever.

Players and teams persistenly at fault will be asked to leave the league.

The main aspect of Last Man Stands is to have FUN, so let's keep it that way ;  )

Rule Trivia:

Do you know what the definition of a SIX is? A SIX is achieved when a batsmen hits the ball over the boundary. Sounds wrong doesn't it?

But do you know what the definition of a boundary is? It's the exact point where the boundary rope touchecs the grass. Therefor if a ball lands on the rope it is a SIX!