the sussex slam men's cup, shield & trophy

Since its inception in 2020, the Men’s competition in Sussex has become the most popular of The Slam’s offerings, so much so that it now operates a three-tier structure: The Cup for the higher-level teams; The Trophy for those at the lower / more recreational level; and The Shield for those in between.

player eligibility summary FOR 2025

proposed schedule for 2025

NEW FOR 2025

The following changes have been made since 2024:

• After you’ve completed your entry form, you will be automatically routed to our new payment portal where you can easily select all of the various team entries that you wish to make, along with ordering any additional balls, and pay there and then online. This removes the slower bank transfer process of previous years, however if you do require the old invoice – transfer – receipt process, then you are able to indicate this on the entry form.

 

• Following a democratic process, the quality of the match balls have been raised, and we will now be using the pink Lord’s County League Special ball. This has meant a slight increase in cost which only equates to approximate 21p per player per game. Whilst there is a set number of these balls included in the entry fee, teams are welcome to order as many more as they like, for any usage, at what is an extremely competitive rate. This can be done via the payment portal.

 

• There has been an amendment to the remunerated player rule (SX.MPE.3) so as to provide a balance between installing rules that are more straightforward to understand and implement, whilst maintaining the principle of limiting the level of player participating in The Slam. The new rules include restricting “Category 2” and “Category 3” players from participating in The Slam. Full details can be found in the PLAYER ELIGIBILITY rules.

 

• It is no longer a requirement for a player to be a permanent member of the club that the team in The Slam ‘belongs’ to, but there remains the restrictions over how many different teams one player can play for each year. See PLAYER ELIGIBILITY rules for full details.

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• IN THE TROPHY ONLY, the compulsory retirement (not out) score for a batter has been reduced to 30, and the maximum number of overs a single bowler can bowl has been reduced to 3 (varying for reduced overs games). The over-riding principle of The Trophy is to increase participation, particularly amongst those that play a very limited amount of cricket elsewhere and this change will be a material stride towards achieving that more. See MATCH RULES for full details.

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• There is now clear instruction for the management of fixtures in both the group and the knockout stages. It is vital that you understand the requirements of you before entering a team, which can be found on the FIXTURE MANAGEMENT page.

2025 entry is now CLOSED

...but to give you an idea of what to expect in 2026, the package for this year is:

Team entry is just £108 (excluding ball delivery) for the new season, for which the following is included:

• Minimum of 5 matches in the competition;
• 6 new, pink, Slam-branded, Lords match balls delivered to an address of your choice (more can be ordered at just £10.80 each);
• Design, production and full & free use of unique team logo;
• Showpiece Finals' Day for the last 4 teams in each competition, including independent umpires;
• Access to preferential match kit rates at our partner SHARKS

Whilst 6 brand new match balls are included in the entry fee (which is all you MUST have), you are more than welcome to order more as spares or for other matches. 

Before submitting a team entry, please ensure that you have:

• familiarised yourself with all the rules, which you can access from the menu above, ​but particularly those in relation to PLAYER ELIGIBILITY as it is vital that you adhere to them throughout the competition as failure to do so will see the match(es) awarded to your opponent; and 
• if you are a nomadic team, read the NOMADIC TEAMS detail, which clarifies the particular arrangements that are in place for such teams.