For those of you who are interested in following the Reed CC teams in their various Divisions and keep a watch on the League Tables perhaps from afar (or even spectating “live”) you might find the Points scoring system confusing. I have reproduced below the methods for awarding points. Needless to state that it isn’t as straightforward as you might think because the system in the Premier and Championship Divisions (i.e., affecting our First XI), is different to the system used in Divisions 1 to 10B (affecting our Second and Third Teams). It is different again in the Regional Divisions, but as we are not running a Fourth XI this season, I have excluded that system.
For our 1st XI Limited Overs Matches (50 overs per side):
Points System
Win: 25 points
Tie: 13 points
No result: 10 points, or bonus points gained, whichever is the greater.
Cancelled: 10 points
Bonus points awarded to the losing side or, in the event of a match without a result, to both sides. No bonus points will be awarded for a match ending as a Tie (a Tie being a match in which the scores are level, irrespective of the number of wickets lost by each side).
Batting Bonus points: 1 point for reaching 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250 and 275 runs
Bowling Bonus points: 1 point for taking 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 wickets (Full bowling bonus points will be gained if a side is all out, regardless of the number of wickets taken).
By winning a full match, the victorious team receives 25 points only, (no Batting or Bowling Bonus Points). Only the losing team gets Bonus Points which means that a losing team could still receive up to 14 points in a high scoring defeat. (For example, bowling a side all out for 280, then passing 275, but not reaching the target, is 7 bowling points plus 7 batting points.)
The above applies to the Limited Overs matches played in the Premier and Championship Divisions. In the Timed-Match Format (the middle 9 fixtures of the season) the Points system is different and I shall not re-print it here.
Now for the Limited Overs Matches played by our 2nd and 3rd Teams (50 overs per side):
Points System
Win: 30 points
Tie: 20 points
Loss: Bonus Points only
Draw: Draws are not possible in this format of the game.
Abandoned: 10 points or Bonus points, whichever is the greater.
Batting Bonus Points: 1 point for every 15 runs scored from 110 to 245 (i.e., a maximum of 10 points).
Bowling Bonus Points: 1 point for every wicket taken.
If a team takes all the available wickets of a team playing with less than 11 players they shall receive 10 bowling bonus points.
Any side failing to fulfil a fixture, the opposing team shall be awarded the full 30 points available for that fixture.
Any side which fails to fulfil a fixture shall additionally be deducted 10 points from its points total in the division in which it plays.
Similarly to the top divisions, a team could go the whole season and not win a single match but could end up with a healthy points aggregate. In this format losing teams might possibly achieve up to 20 points every match! They don’t, but theoretically it is possible.
At the League’s AGM, it was voted that ONLY Limited Overs Matches are played in Divisions 1 and below; there are NO Timed-Matches.
Everything you need to know is explained in the SHPCL Handbook, a version of which can be viewed on www.hertsleague.co.uk
Under the heading “Reports” on the SHPCL website you will see an entry for “Fines” – this will show penalties for a variety of misdemeanours where points forfeitures are recorded against teams. That explains why some teams have minus points in the Tables.
I should add that if you look at the Divisional Tables now, you will see that almost every team in the League has 5 unseen “Bonus” Points. This is because their Team Captains attended the pre-season Captains’ Meeting in April. Clubs who did not send a representative were not awarded those 5 extra points. I believe that last season those “missing” 5 Bonus Points did affect one club’s promotion prospects! Several clubs failed to attend again this year; all 3 of Reed’s skippers did. You can see that the incentive of what is equivalent to scoring a pile of runs, or taking a hatful of wickets just for turning up at a meeting is quite a big one.
Standings so far after 3 weeks.
1st XI. First match v. Leverstock Green
Lost.
Scored 190 runs = 3 points
Took 8 wickets = 5 points
1st XI. Second match v. Dunstable
Abandoned = 10 points
1st XI. Third match v. Flitwick
Win = 25 points
“Captain’s Extra points” = 5 points
Total 48 points. Position 4th in the Championship Division.
2nd XI. First match v. Leverstock Green
Lost.
Scored 200 runs = 7 points
Took 4 wickets = 4 points
2nd XI. Second match v. Chorleywood
Abandoned = 10 points
2nd XI. Third match v. Northwood Town
Lost.
Scored 163 runs = 4 points
Took 8 wickets = 8 points
“Captain’s Extra points” = 5 points
Total 38 points. Position 8th in Division 4B.
3rd XI. First match v. Old Albanian
Cancelled = 10 points
3rd XI. Second match v. Hatfield Hyde
Abandoned = 10 points
3rd XI. Third match v. Shenley Village
Win = 30 points
“Captain’s Extra points” = 5 points
Total 55 points. Position 6th in Division 9A.
Simplicity itself!
Even though all the League matches involving Reed’s Second and Third Teams are limited overs, the players wear white, the ball is red and there are no fielding circles. The First team however, wear coloured clothing in the limited overs format, use a pink ball and have fielding restrictions. Then from the 9th June for 9 matches through to 28th July, the Firsts change to the Timed format – and guess what? Yes, they wear white and play with red balls. After that, it’s back to the coloured strip and pink balls for the remaining 4 fixtures.
Everything a spectator needs to know! (For now.)
PGB
