NBCC LGBTQ+ T10 Tournament

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Sunday June 9th will see the NBCC LGBTQ+ team represent Gloucestershire in the second annual LGBTQ+ T10 tournament organised by our friends Out4Cricket, and generously supported by the Warwickshire Cricket Foundation.

The Gloucestershire Squad has five (5) players returning from last year and six (6) players making their debuts. The squad is a truly diverse and inclusive one with players from the LGBTQ+ community joined by a range of players from disability cricket, senior cricket, junior cricket, and represents a number of Countries including England, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Australia (well we would have if he wasn’t injured) and ….. Yorkshire!

The Counties involved have all engaged with Out4Cricket and it is particularly good to see a third LGBTQ+ team joining us this year, the Leeds Kites, against who we kick off the tournament!

From an NBCC perspective it is great to be asked to get involved for the second year running, and the support from Ellen Mutch and Gloucestershire is much appreciated, especially the early season coaching session they put on at the Seat Stadium.

With Warwickshire including Lachlan Stephen-Smith (Out4Cricket), Middlesex including Leo Skyner (Out4Cricket) and Gloucestershire including Chris Marshall (NBCC) it is hard to say whether the competitiveness will be stronger between the two companies who work closely together, the three friends, or the six counties!

Finally, a word of thanks to Rob Evans and Richard Evans for the efforts in shaping the playing conditions (below) and to the umpires and scorers who will help on the day.

Formal Playing Conditions & Format

This year’s tournament will take place at Sutton Coldfield Cricket Club on Sunday, June 9. We expect to have six teams this year, enabling two groups of three teams. Each team will play two group games and one playoff match. This will be one game less than in 2023, making the day more manageable for players and organisers.

We expect the following six teams to participate:

  • Warwickshire (represented by Birmingham Unicorns CC) – Group A
  • Worcestershire – Group A
  • Kent – Group A
  • Gloucestershire (represented by NBCC LGBTQ+) – Group B
  • Middlesex (represented by Graces CC) – Group B
  • Yorkshire (represented by Leeds Kites CC) – Group B

At the end of the group stage, playoff matches for 5th/6th, 3rd/4th and a final will be played, followed by presentations. The match schedule is as follows:

11 am – Group stage round one

  • Main Ground – Warwickshire v Worcestershire
  • Lower Ground – Gloucestershire v Yorkshire

12:30 pm – Group stage round two

  • Main Ground – Middlesex v Gloucestershire
  • Lower Ground – Kent v Worcestershire

2:15 pm – Group stage round three

  • Main Ground – Middlesex v Yorkshire
  • Lower Ground – Warwickshire v Kent

4:30 pm – 5th/6th and 3rd/4th playoff matches.

  • Main Ground – 3rd place play-off (teams finishing second in their groups)
  • Lower Ground – 5th place play-off (teams finishing third in their group)

6:30 pm – Final

  • Main Ground – Final (teams finishing first in their group)

8 pm – Presentations

Playing Conditions

Following feedback from players after last year’s tournament, several modifications to playing conditions have been agreed and are outlined briefly below. Full playing regulations are on the following pages.

The changes are designed to create a sense of jeopardy on the day and ensure as many players can participate as possible. Participating counties are asked to share these with their players before the tournament. 

Summary of the new playing conditions:

  • Batting:
    • Batters (including the last player standing – see below) will retire when they reach 30. (A player cannot return even if their side is bowled out).
    • If a side loses seven wickets, the remaining batter can continue batting as the ‘last player standing’ until the end of the overs or until they are dismissed. Runouts can only be at the end, which the batter is running to. If the last batter runs and ends at the non-striker’s end, they will return to the striking end when the ball is dead.
    • Batting orders should be drawn out of a hat at the start of each innings.
  • Bowling:
    • At least six bowlers must be used, with a maximum of two overs per bowler.
    • Any no-ball will result in a free hit on the following ball. If a no-ball is bowled on the last ball of an over, the first ball of the next over will be a free hit.
    • If a six is hit off the last ball of the 10th over, it counts as 12.
    • If the last delivery of the last over is a no-ball that gets hit for 6, this counts as 14 (12+2 no-ball). The subsequent free hit can be hit for 12.
  • Fielding:
    • At least three players must be on each side of the wicket during the whole innings. 
  • General:
    • If a team is slow with their over rate, they will be penalised two runs for every delivery late. The penalty to apply at the point the innings should have been completed. Umpires will make allowance for allowable delays. (10 overs should be completed within 40 minutes)

8 a side LGBTQ Festival 2024

Match Regulations

The laws of cricket will apply with the following exceptions:

  1. Players
    1. Teams will consist of 8 players.
    1. If a player is injured and unable to take any further part in the game, substitutes can play a full part in the game; the injured player may not return as a participating player for the remainder of the game.
  2. MatchFormat
    1. Each innings will consist of 10 six ball overs.
    1. Each innings should be completed in 40 minutes, with a 5-minute turnaround between each innings.
    1. In the event that the bowling team not completing their overs in the allotted time a penalty of 2 runs per delivery late will be applied at the point the 40 minutes is elapsed.
    1. If the team batting first is bowled out before the 10 overs are complete the remaining overs do not carry across to the second innings.
  3. Batting
    1. At the start of each game, the batting order for each team will be drawn randomly from a hat. The umpires will supervise this at the Toss.
    1. Batters will retire out when they reach 30 runs. They will not be able to return.
    1. If a side loses seven (7) wickets, the remaining batter will continue batting alone as ‘last man stands’ until such time that they reach a score of 30, they lose their wicket, or all overs are complete. The batter can only be runout at the end the batter is running to. If the last batter runs and ends at the non-striker’s end, they will return to the striker’s end when the ball is dead.
    1. If a six is struck off the last delivery of the final over it will count as 12 runs.
  4. Bowling Restrictions
    1. A minimum of six (6) bowlers must be used unless the batting team is bowled out before the allotted overs ends.
    1. No bowler will be able to bowl more than two (2) overs.
  5. Fielding Restrictions
    1. There will be no inner fielding circle.
    1. At the point of delivery, three (3) players must be on each side of the wicket.
    1. All other fielding restrictions will be Laws of cricket.
  6. Extras
    1. No Balls and Wides will count as two (2) runs, and no extra delivery will be made unless it is the last over of the innings when six legal deliveries need to be completed and will still count as two runs.
    1. There will be no strict interpretation of leg side wides, the Laws of cricket will be applied.
    1. All no balls in the final over will be followed by a free hit, if the free hit is not a legal delivery then there will be another free hit, until such time a legal delivery is bowled.
    1. A batter can only be dismissed from a free hit under the circumstances that apply for a no-ball, even if the delivery for the free hit is called a wide.
    1. If the batters do not change ends, no fielding changes will be permissible for the free hit, with the exception of a fielder moving to a safe position 15 yards from the batter, in a direct line backwards from their original position. If the batters change ends, fielding changes will be allowed.
    1. If a six is scored of the last scheduled delivery it will count as 12 runs, should that delivery be a no ball, then 14 runs will be scored (12+2). The following delivery will be a free hit and will also count as 12 if a six is scored.
  7. Interrupted games
    1. In the event the game is interrupted or delayed, one over will be lost for every 4 minutes delay.
    1. When the first innings is interrupted, both innings should be of the same length.
    1. When the second innings is interrupted, a simple target score shall be calculated based on the average run rate of the overs initially available.
    1. Minimum match length is four (4) overs per innings.
  8. Match Result
    1. In the event of a tied game, the team losing the least wickets is the winner.
    1. If the game is still tied, the team with the highest actual run rate will win.
    1. If the game is still tied, a super over will be played:-
      1. One bowler will be chosen from each side who must have bowled in the main part of the game.
      1. 6 legal deliveries will need to be bowled.
      1. Wides and No-balls count as two runs, and the subsequent delivery for a no-ball will be a free hit.
      1. The super over will cease if two (2) wickets have fallen.
      1. No player can bat and bowl during the super over.