SURREY MEN'S PLAYER ELIGIBLITY RULES

All Teams should remain conscious throughout their time in The Slam that the below rules are fundamental to the success of The Slam, and as such, a significant level of the health of the recreational game in the county. Therefore willful action against these rules will be viewed in an appropriately dim light and may result ultimately in expulsion from The Slam.

• SY-MPE.1 - Players must be regular playing members of the club to which the participating team is affiliated, who will be expected to honour the ethos and responsibilities of being a member of their club and this competition. The only exception to this is where a player plays more cricket for another club, but that club is not participating in The Slam. Note that rules SY-MPE.4 and SY-MPE.5 are relevant to ANY club that a player plays for on a weekend, not just the club that they represent in The Slam. ​​ ​    

• SY-MPE.2a - No player shall represent more than ONE team in EITHER version (Cup or Plate) of The Slam in any single year. ​

• SY-MPE.2b - An exception to SY-MPE.2a is where a club enters a team into both of the Men's Cup and the Men's Plate. In such an instance a player IS able to play for both teams for that club ONLY in any single year so long as they meet the eligibility criteria for the version they are playing in at the given time as per rules SY-MPE.4 and SY-MPE.5.​ ​​

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• SY-MPE.2c - The only other exception to SX-MPE.2a is where a player has formally transferred from one to club to another via the official process employed by the weekend league(s) in which that club participates. Upon submitting written evidence of that transfer, and receiving written confirmation of acceptance from The Slam,  that player will be permitted to  participate for the remainder of The Slam season for their new club's team(s) ONLY, they are not permitted to continue playing for the team(s) entered by their old club regardless of whether they participate in a different level of competition or not. The ongoing eligibility of the player will be judged based on their performance in that season AS A WHOLE and not just whilst playing for their new club. The deadline for transfers will be in line with those of the associated weekend league(s).

• SY-MPE.3 - It is not acceptable for any participating team to play players who are remunerated in any way to play cricket, irrespective of whether it is the competing team or another club who provides the remuneration to the player.​ For the avoidance of doubt, this includes (but is not limited to) the payment of match fees and/or travel costs; the provision of board and/or lodgings; or the provision of employment, or the ability to be employed. ​ ​​​

• SY-MPE.4a - Under no circumstances should a player who has played in ANY 1st XI Surrey Championship Premier or Division One league matches (or equivalent), in the same season (for any club), be selected to represent any participating team. ​ ​

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• SY-MPE.4b - Teams may submit to the Competition Manager a request for players to be exempt from rule SY-MPE.4a whereby a player may have only played a very limited number of matches at this level of competition that would normally exclude them form participating in The Men's Cup. This should be submitted via the designated online form ONLY and any exemption is only confirmed once it has been confirmed by email or text to the requesting team.

 

• ​SY-MPE.4c - Any player that is not excluded from participating under rule SY-MPE.3 or SY-MPE.4a may participate in The Men's Cup.

 

• SY-MPE.4d - Any player who has participated in the following divisions in the current season (or equivalent level in another county) shall NOT be eligible to participate in The Men's Plate:​

​Surrey Championship 1st XI - All Divisions
Surrey Championship 2nd XI - Premier, Div 1 & Div 2
Surrey County (Shepherd Neame) 1st XI - Premier & Div 1
Thames Valley - Divs 1, 2 & 3
I'Anson - Division 1
Elite Premier - All Divisions

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• ​​​SY-MPE.4e - For the FIRST TWO FIXTURE WINDOWS ONLY OF THE CURRENT SEASON the player's record from the previous season shall be utilised to assess whether a player is eligible to participate in either The Men's Cup or The Men's Plate unless the XI of the club in question was either promoted or relegated at the end of the previous season then the assessment will be made upon the division that XI is competing in for the current season and NOT that of previous. AFTER the first two fixture windows of the current season are complete the player's record for the current season alone shall be used to assess eligibility.  

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• SY-MPE.4f - Teams may submit to the Competition Manager a request for players to be exempt from rule SY-MPE.4d whereby a player may have only played a very limited number of matches at this level of competition that would normally exclude them from participating in The Men's Plate. This should be submitted via the designated online form ONLY and any exemption is only confirmed once it has been confirmed by email or text to the requesting team.

• SY-MPE.5a - In The Men's Cup any player who has played for their (or any) club in either Division Two or Three of the Surrey 1st XI Championship (or equivalent) will not be permitted to bat higher than number 6 in the batting order, nor will they be permitted to bowl any earlier than the 13th over of an innings. In a shortened match the batting restriction remains but the bowling restriction should be altered by the same ratio that the match is reduced by. ​

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• SY-MPE.5b - In The Men's Cup any player who has played for their (or any) club in either Division Four or Five of the Surrey 1st XI Championship (or equivalent); the top two divisions of the Surrey County League (or equivalent); and any division in the Elite Premier Cricket League will not be permitted to bat higher than number 4 in the batting order, nor will they be permitted to bowl any earlier than the 9th over of an innings. In a shortened match the batting restriction remains but the bowling restriction should be altered by the same ratio that the match is reduced by.

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• SY-MPE.5c - For the FIRST TWO FIXTURE WINDOWS ONLY OF THE CURRENT SEASON the player's record from the previous season shall be utilised to assess whether a player's participation  is restricted in The Men's Cup unless the XI of the club in question was either promoted or relegated at the end of the previous season then the assessment will be made upon the division that XI is competing in for the current season and NOT that of previous. AFTER the first two fixture windows of the current season are complete the player's record for the current season alone shall be used to assess eligibility.  

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• SY-MPE.5c - Teams may submit to the Competition Manager a request for players to be exempt from part of rule SY-MPE.5a or SY-MPE.5b whereby the player may be a bowler of a high standard, but their batting would not be considered as such (or vice versa). This should be submitted via the designated online form ONLY and any exemption is only confirmed once it is has been confirmed by email or text to the requesting team. ​

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• SY-MPE.5d - For the avoidance of doubt, any player that is eligible under rule SY-MPE.4d to participate in The Midweek Plate shall not be subject to any restrictions unless it is a requirement of an exemption granted by the Competition Manager under rule SY-MPE.4f. Any such adjudication shall be made clear on the Player Exemption list published on The Slam website.

 

• SY-MPE.5e - ANY player under the age of 16 on 6TH MAY 2024 will NOT be subject to rulings SY-MPE.5a or SY-MPE.5b and as such no Player Exemption request is required.

• SY-MPE.6 - Any team may not utilise any more than FOUR granted exemptions in any single match in the Men's Cup competition, this rule does NOT ​apply to the Men's Plate competition. For the avoidance of doubt a team may play more than four players who have been granted exemptions, but may NOT utilise any more than four exemptions that allow a play to bat or bowl earlier than SY-MPE.4 or SY-MPE.5 would normally allow, or indeed play at all. Note that an exemption is for one player's batting or bowling NOT both, deploying an exemption for the same player to bat and bowl earlier than would normally be allowed would count as two exemptions.

• SY-MPE.7 - Teams should declare to their opponents ALL players with valid exemptions prior to the toss being conducted of any match. For the avoidance of doubt this should include any players exempt due to being under 16 on 6th May 2024 as per SY-MPE.5e.

• SY-MPE.8 - Any dispute regarding players who have played for a team in this competition is to be referred, in writing, to the Competition Manager only by the nominated prime contact for that team.​