SUssex 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.
- SX-MPE.1 - All rules in relation to Player Eligibility are relevant to ANY club that a player plays for on a weekend, not just the club that they represent in The Slam.
2. MULTIPLE TEAMS
- SX-MPE.2a - No player shall represent more than ONE team in ANY version (Men's Cup, Shield or Trophy) of The Slam in any single year.
- SX-MPE.2b - An exception to SX-MPE.2a is where a club enters a team into more than one of the Men's Cup, Men's Shield and Men's Trophy. In such an instance a player IS able to play for more than one team 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 SX-MPE.3 and SX-MPE.4.
- SX-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).
3. INELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- SX-MPE.3a - Players who have played in ANY First Class or List A matches in any country since 1ST MAY 2021 shall NOT be eligible to participate in any Slam competition.
- SX-MPE.3b - Players who have been registered under either "CATEGORY 2" or "CATEGORY 3" in ANY competition in the same season (for any club) shall NOT be eligible to participate in any Slam competition.
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An exemption will be granted for those players who’s registration under Category 3 has been accompanied by evidence of a valid WORK, STUDENT or ANCESTORY visa that enables them to temporarily reside in the United Kingdom at the time of their participation in The Slam.
The team is required to submit an exemption request to The Slam using the EXEMPTION FORM ONLY and The Slam will validate the request through consultation with the competition that manages the registration. Under no circumstances should pictorial or documented evidence of either a Work or Student visa be submitted to The Slam. For clarity the registration categories are as follows: CATEGORY 1
CATEGORY 2 Contracted Player :- A player (capped or uncapped) qualified to play for England under the current ECB regulations and, currently, under contract to a First-Class County Club. For the purposes of clarification, a contracted player is one who has a current full playing contract, a summer contract or a development (Rookie) contract but not an Academy contract (16-19 years) CATEGORY 3 Players not eligible to be registered as a Category 1 or Category 2 Player must be registered as a "Category 3 Player" if they wish to take part in the League. |
- SX-MPE.3c - Any player who has participated the Sussex Cricket League Premier Division or Division Two in the current season (or equivalent level in another county) shall NOT be eligible to participate in any of the Men's Cup, Shield or Trophy.
- SX-MPE.3d - Any player who has participated in the following Sussex Cricket League divisions in the current season (or equivalent level in another county) shall NOT be eligible to participate in The Men's Shield:
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Premier Division
Division Two Division Three East or West Division Four East or West Division Five East, Central or West |
- SX-MPE.3e - Any player who has participated in the following Sussex Cricket League divisions in the current season (or equivalent level in another county) shall NOT be eligible to participate in The Men's Trophy:
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Premier Division
Division Two Division Three East or West Division Four East or West Division Five East, Central or West Division Six East, Central or West Division Seven East, Central or West Division Eight East, Central or West |
- SY-MPE.3f - 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 any of the Men's Cup, Men's Shield or Men's Trophy, unless the XI of the club in question was either promoted or relegated following the previous season, then the assessment will be made upon the division that XI is competing in for the current season. 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.
- SY-MPE.3g - Teams may submit to the Competition Manager a request for players to be exempt from any rule within SX-MPE.3 whereby a player may have only played a very limited number of matches at the level of competition that would normally exclude them from participating in The Men's Cup, Men's Shield or Men's Trophy. 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.
- SX-MPE.3h - Any player that is not excluded from participating under rule SX-MPE.3 may participate in The Men's Cup.
- SX-MPE.3i - Any breach of SX-MPE.3 in ANY fixture, regardless of the impact that player(s) have on the fixture in question, shall see the opposing team awarded a victory regardless of the stage the competition is at.
4. RESTRICTED PLAYERS
- SX-MPE.4a - In The Men's Cup any player who has played for their (or any) club in either Division Three (East or West) of the Sussex Cricket League (or equivalent) shall 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.
- SX-MPE.4b - In The Men's Cup any player who has played for their (or any) club in either Division Four (East or West) of the Sussex Cricket League (or equivalent) shall 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.
- SX-MPE.4c - In The Men's Shield ONLY any player who has played for their (or any) club in any Division Six (East, Central or West) of the Sussex Cricket League (or equivalent) shall 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.
- SX-MPE.4d - In The Men's Trophy ONLY any player who has played for their (or any) club in any Division Nine (East, Central or West) or Division Ten (East, Central or West) of the Sussex Cricket League (or equivalent) shall 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.
- SX-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's participation is restricted in any of the Men's Cup, Men's Shield or Men's Trophy unless the XI of the club in question was either promoted or relegated following the previous season then the assessment will be made upon the division that XI is competing in for the current season. AFTER the first two fixture windows of the current season are complete the player's record for current season alone shall be used to assess any restriction.
- SX-MPE.4f - Teams may submit to the Competition Manager a request for players to be exempt from rules SX-MPE.4a, 4b, 4c or 4d as a whole whereby a player may have only played a very limited number of matches at the level of competition that would normally restrict them from participating. 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.
- SX-MPE.4g - Teams may submit to the Competition Manager a request for players to be exempt from either the batting or bowling part of rules SX-MPE.4a, 4b, 4c or 4d whereby the player may be a bowler of a the restricted 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.
- SX-MPE.4h - For the avoidance of doubt, any player not covered by any of the rulings above shall NOT be restricted when participating in any of the Men's Cup, Men's Shield or Men's Trophy.
- SX-MPE.4i - ANY player under the age of 18 on 5TH MAY 2025 shall NOT be subject to rulings SX-MPE.4a, 4b, 4c or 4d and as such no Player Exemption request is required. For the avoidance of doubt, this DOES NOT mean they are also exempt from any other rulings, particularly those under SX-MPE.3.
- SX-MPE.4j - Any breach of SX-MPE.4 in ANY fixture, regardless of the impact that player(s) have on the fixture in question, shall see the opposing team awarded a victory regardless of the stage the competition is at.
5. MANAGEMENT OF PLAYERS WITH EXEMPTIONS
- SX-MPE.5a - Any team may not utilise any more than FOUR granted INDIVIDUAL batting or bowling exemptions in any single match in the Men's Cup competition (this rule does NOT apply to the Men's Shield or Men's Trophy competitions). 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 INDIVIDUAL batting or bowling exemptions that allow a player to bat or bowl earlier than SX-MPE.4 would normally allow.. Note that an exemption is for one player's batting or bowling NOT both, any player who has been granted BOTH a batting and bowling exemption is deemed to not be sufficiently of the level the restriction rules are aimed at and as such they do not count towards the number of exemptions utilised. For the avoidance of doubt, an exemption from any part of SX-MPE.3 is NOT to be counted as one of the utilised exemptions in any match as it is assumed that individual has been freed up to play at their correct level and the team should not be penalised for that. However, any subsequent batting or bowling exemptions for that individual WILL be regarded as one of the permitted exemptions.
- SX-MPE.5b - Teams should declare to their opponents (or the Competition Manager for Finals' Days) 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 18 on 5th May 2025 as per SX-MPE.5h.
6. DISPUTE OF A PLAYER'S ELIGIBILITY
- SX-MPE.6 - 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.
The above is implemented in good faith as players might not be well known to the opponent given the possibility that the two sides may regularly compete in different leagues. It is in the best interests of the competition itself that clubs compete in a fair manner given this competition’s intention to promote participation & inclusion within the game of cricket.
