02172 17-03-2007 Passports and English eligibility

For the 2007 season, the Rule 7 (a) (i) of the L&DCC's Playing regulations has been amended to read as follows:

From the start of season 2007, each nominated side in each 1st XI match must field at least nine players qualified to play for England, and may contain no more than one non-resident overseas player. ie who is not eligible to play for England and does not satisfy the criteria for ‘overseas players resident in England’.

(i) nine players qualified to play for England (category 1) + one overseas player (category 2) + one overseas resident (category 3) OR

(ii) nine players qualified to play for England (category 1) + two overseas residents (category 3).

The definitions for L&DCC category 1 and category 3 players (taken from the ECB's Generic Rules) are:

REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE QUALIFICATION AND REGISTRATION OF CRICKETERS FOR COMPETITIVE COUNTY CRICKET AND THEIR QUALIFICATION FOR ENGLAND

Subject to the overriding discretion of the ECB and subject as provided below, a Cricketer will only be qualified to play in a Competitive County Cricket match (a Qualified Cricketer) if:

1.1 he is a European Economic Area (EEA) national or a national of a state which is a party to an agreement with the EU and its member states providing that their nationals lawfully employed within the EEA shall have employment rights equal to those of EEA nationals; and

1.2 he has not, within the 12 months leading up to 1st April immediately before the season in question, either (i) played cricket for any Full Member Country outside the EEA at U17 level or above, or (ii) played First Class Cricket in any such Full Member Country except as an overseas cricketer under local rules similar to ECB Regulation 3 (Unqualified Cricketers), or in any other circumstances approved by the ECB; and

1.3 he makes, whenever requested by the ECB, a declaration in the form set out in Annex A to the ECB Regulations.

The complete Regulations are published annually by the ECB and are available on request.

Subject to the overriding discretion of the ECB, acting with the consent of the International Cricket Council, a Cricketer will only be qualified to play for England in a Test Match or in a One Day International Match if:

1.2.2 he has been resident in England and Wales for the immediately preceding four consecutive years; and

1.3 he has not during the immediately preceding four consecutive years either played cricket for any Full Member Country outside the EEA at U17 level or above, or played First Class Cricket in any such Full Member Country except as an overseas cricketer under local rules similar to Regulation 3, or in any other circumstances approved by the ECB; and

1.4 he makes, whenever requested by the ECB, a declaration in the form set out in Annex A to the ECB Regulations.

2.1 In the case of a Cricketer seeking to become qualified under 1.2.2 above he will (until he has become qualified to play for England) only be treated as having been resident within England and Wales for the relevant consecutive period if he has spent a minimum of 210 days in each year within England and Wales (for which purpose 'year' shall mean a year ending 1st April).

DEFINITIONS

1.2. The Friends Provident Trophy, the NatWest Pro 40 League and the Twenty20 Cup

1.4. Any other similar competition authorised by and designated as Competitive County Cricket by the ECB.

2. Qualification to play for England refers to matches played in the course of:

3. England and Wales means England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

4. The EEA means the European Economic Area and includes each of its member states as from time to time applicable. Currently the EEA comprises the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Cyprus (Greek part), Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

5. Residing and resident mean the occupation of a bona fide home (i.e. the only or main home of the Cricketer concerned) and the acquisition of temporary accommodation during the season may not fulfil this requirement.

6. Full Member Country means a country which is a full member of the International Cricket Council.

category
1a

(1.1) a cricketer is either a British citizen or an Irish citizen;

AND

(1.2.1) he was born within England and Wales.

category
1b

(1.1) a cricketer is either a British citizen or an Irish citizen;

AND

(1.2.2) he has been resident in England and Wales for the immediately preceding four consecutive years;

AND

(1.3) he has not during the immediately preceding four consecutive years either played cricket for any Full Member Country outside the EEA at U17 level or above, or played First Class Cricket in any such Full Member Country except as an overseas cricketer under local rules similar to Regulation 3, or in any other circumstances approved by the ECB;

AND

(1.4) he makes, whenever requested by the ECB, a declaration in the form set out in Annex A to the ECB Regulations.

(2.1) In the case of a Cricketer seeking to become qualified under 1.2.2 above he will (until he has become qualified to play for England) only be treated as having been resident within England and Wales for the relevant consecutive period if he has spent a minimum of 210 days in each year within England and Wales (for which purpose 'year' shall mean a year ending 1st April).

1. For cricketing purposes, 'Irish citizen' refers to anyone from Northern Ireland or Eire and because the countries are grouped under the name of the Irish Cricket Board, a player who was born in either of the countries has to qualify to play for England.

2. Similarly, a player who was born in Scotland, although being regarded as British, has to qualify because Scotland has its own Cricket Board.

3. Once a player has become qualified for England he retains that qualification provided that he does not subsequently lose it by playing cricket, for example by playing for another ICC Full Member country at U17 level or above. (ECB verification)

4. The possession of a British passport is not taken into consideration for the above rules but may be used for identification and classification purposes.

5. Furthermore, the possession of such a passport does not necessarily mean the holder is a 'British citizen'. If the holder is a 'British citizen', it will state as such on the passport.

(i) a cricketer who is not qualified under 3.6.7 above. but who is ordinarily resident in this country can qualify as an overseas player resident in England and play in ECB club Competitions only if:

(ii) he has been resident in this country for a period of twenty four consecutive months before the date of his request for registration

(iii) he has not been out of this country for longer than 35 days consecutively or 70 days in total during the previous twenty four months, any remuneration he receives from playing cricket is not the main source of his income.

(iv) the definition of 'ordinarily resident' shall be in the absolute discretion of the body responsible for registration of the player in the relevant Competition.

(v) any such player MUST be properly registered with their ECB accredited Premier League or, if the club does not play in an ECB accredited Premier League, the player MUST be registered directly with the ECB Cricket Department, having completed an ECB 'Category 3 - Overseas Player' registration form. The club MUST have received the appropriate paperwork either from the League they participate in or the ECB Cricket Department showing that the player is registered PRIOR to the start of the match. No player shall be registered after 30th June in any season.

(vi) a player, who has a home in this country and has been granted "Exempt" status, who subsequently accepts a temporary work assignment, not related to cricket, in another country may apply to re-instate his previous "Exempt" status immediately on his return to this country.

(vii) approval is at the discretion of the registration body and is not automatic.

If an overseas player, who having qualified to be a Overseas Player Resident in England, goes out of this country for more than the period permitted in (iii) above, he then reverts to being a Category 2 overseas player until such time as he re-qualifies as a Category 3.

As last season, there are instances now where category 3 players are being said to be category 1.

The rules are clearly set out above and teams found to have contravened them during the season will be penalised by fines and loss of points which, in turn, may result in relegation.

These qualification rules also apply to category 1 and 3 players in the L&DCC's 2nd and 3rd XI competitions.

If your plans for the forthcoming season don't comply with the above, you've got four weeks to amend them.