| NORTH-WEST FEDERATION OF
CROQUET CLUBS LEAGUE RULES 2013 (Amendments agreed in November 2012 and March 2013 are in italics - rules 2ab; 7ef; 22; 23a; 25-28.) The first section describes General Rules, followed by sections on Advanced, Handicap, Short and Golf Croquet leagues. General 1. Croquet Association Regulations for tournaments shall apply to matches played in all Leagues. 2. (a) The league manager shall publish a Provisional Fixture List at least 8 weeks before the start of the League season. Clubs may re-negotiate the fixture dates with opponents and inform the League Manager within four weeks. The League Manager will then publish the confirmed fixture list and announce the final date by which all matches must be played. (b) If any team cannot fulfil a fixture, they must agree a new date with the opposing club and inform the League Manager prior to the date of the postponed match, otherwise the match is forfeited and a walkover awarded to the opposing team (see rule 8). The exceptions being an agreed emergency or lawns being unfit for play, in which case the League Manager will declare the match void unless informed within three weeks of a re-arranged date. 3. Matches shall be played between teams of three in the Advanced Croquet and Level Play Golf Croquet leagues, whilst teams of four will apply in other leagues. Whilst the normal start times for league matches is 10:00 am, however, opposing captains may agree other times as appropriate, e.g. 9:30 am for Advanced matches. 4. (a) Modified games as defined in CA Law 44 shall not be played. (b) Local Laws as defined in CA Law 54 may be used. (c) Smaller lawns as defined in CA Law 2(b)(6) may be used subject to the approval of the League Manager. Lawns which have been approved in previous years do not need to be re-approved unless they have been further reduced in size. 5. A club may be represented only by members of that club. No player may play for more than one team in a League in any one season unless authorised by the League Manager. 6. (a) If a member of a team fails to play a game or fails to play to the agreed time limit the game shall be conceded. (b) One player shall not play both balls for a side in a doubles game. If one member of a side fails to arrive by the start of the game his/her ball shall be placed on the first or third corner and deemed to have been played by the absent player. If the defaulter arrives late he/she shall be allowed to join his/her partner and play his/her ball from the position in which he/she finds it. 7. (a) If weather conditions render the host's ground unfit for play the venue for the match may be changed by mutual agreement in order to meet the agreed date but a record of the original venue shall be kept for the purpose of deciding venues in future years. (b) If bad weather affects playing conditions during the course of a match team captains may agree whether individual games or the match should be abandoned after considering opportunities for transferring play to other lawns. As far as is reasonable the ‘in-player’ wishing to persevere in poor conditions should be allowed to do so. (c) If captains fail to reach agreement the following test shall apply: - A lawn is deemed unplayable if it is impossible to hit a ball the full length of the lawn along a North-South line which is not obstructed by a hoop or the peg. The captain who believes that the lawn is playable shall nominate a member of his/her team to demonstrate this by hitting a ball along a line chosen by the opposing captain. (e) If a game within a match is abandoned it is declared void unless both team captains and players involved can unanimously agree the result. (f) The match result shall be the score of the games completed plus those decided according to rule 7e provided the number of games thus counted equals at least half the number that should have been played. Otherwise, the match is declared void. The match will remain void unless the league manager is informed within three weeks of a re-arranged date. The re-arranged match may consist of just the games not completed in the abandoned fixture subject to the agreement of both captains and the same players fulfilling the unplayed games, otherwise the whole match must be replayed 8. (a) Two league points shall be awarded for a match win on games played and one point for a draw. In addition, for the Advanced league, bonus points will be awarded depending on Index increases (see Rule 15 below) (b) In the event of a walkover the match shall be scored 4-0 for a Handicap match, 9-0 for a Short League match, 10-0 for a Golf format matches and 5-0 for an Advanced match. The winning side earning 2 points. (c) The results of matches shall be reported immediately to the League Manager by the host captain. (d) At the end of the season the total number of points gained by each team shall be calculated and the team with the highest number of points in each League shall be declared the winner. In the event of a tie on match points, the team with the higher or highest number of net game points shall be declared the winner. In the event of a tie on match points and net game points the winning team will the be winner of the match between the teams. If this was drawn the League Manager will arrange a tiebreaker to be played in whatever form he decides. 9. In the event that the captains involved are unable to resolve an issue concerning the interpretation of these rules the following procedure will apply: -The host captain shall provide the opposing captain with a written statement of the facts within seven days. If this captain agrees with this statement he/she shall forward it to the League Manager with a statement to this effect but add no further comment. If he/she disagrees with the statement of the facts he/she should forward it to the League Manager together with his/her statement with a copy to the host captain. The League Manager shall decide the issue and send copies of his decision to both captains and the Federation Chairman. Advanced and Handicap Leagues 10 (a) In the Advanced league, matches will be played between teams of three, comprising nine singles games, i.e. all play all. (b) In the Handicap leagues, matches will be played between teams of four, comprising one doubles and six singles games. (c) Exceptionally where the home team has only one lawn the match may be played between teams of three as two doubles and two singles. 11 There shall be no restriction on pairings in doubles. The singles shall be arranged as far as possible in descending handicap order subject only to no person playing the same singles opponent twice. 12 (a) Time limits for games shall be 2.5 hours in the Advanced League, 3 hours in the Midweek Handicap and 3 hours 15 minutes in the Weekend Handicap. Shorter time limits are permissible providing both Captains agree. (b) Time lost for stoppages shall be added to extend the time limit as agreed by the captains. 13 (a) In handicap games players must play off their current CA handicap, or if none, their club handicap, subject to a maximum of 24 in singles and 20 in doubles. (b) Handicap games shall be played full bisque to base 8. For this purpose the combined handicaps of doubles pairs shall be calculated as half the sum of their individual handicaps rounded up to the nearest half. 14 Paragraph 3(b) of Appendix 3 to the Croquet Association Rules regarding the taking of bisques in handicap doubles games played to a base shall not apply. 15 In Advanced League matches, two league points will be awarded for a Win and one league point for a Draw. In addition, Bonus League Points will be awarded to each team based on the total increase in Index changes for the team as follows:
Advanced Croquet League Match – Order of Play (assuming two lawns):
Short Croquet 16 Lawn settings shall be in the same proportion as for a full lawn i.e. a NS length unit of 1/5 th of the lawn's length and an EW width unit of ¼ of the lawn's width. 17 Time limits shall be 1 hour 15 minutes plus 15 minutes for double-banked games. 18 Games shall be full bisque handicap games to base 4. 19 Players shall play to their Short handicap subject to a maximum of 10. 20 (a) Clubs must ensure that Short Croquet players are aware of their responsibility to keep a Short Croquet handicap card which should be carried at all League matches. (b) A player with a Full Lawn handicap shall play off either his/her Short Croquet handicap or the Short Croquet handicap equivalent of his/her Full Lawn handicap whichever has changed most recently. A player's Short Croquet handicap shall be adjusted whenever his/her Full Lawn handicap reduces and thereafter be subject to the Automatic Handicapping System. (c) A player unable to produce a Short Croquet Handicap card shall play off a Short Croquet handicap of zero or the Short Croquet equivalent of his/her Full Lawn handicap whichever is the lower for the duration of the match. This rule may be waived only by the agreement of the two captains. Short Croquet League Match – Order of Play:
In the absence of a Short Croquet Record Card, handicaps are determined as follows:
Short Croquet League Games are played with Bisques calculated to Base 4 - Examples:
Golf Croquet 21 All matches shall be played according to Croquet Association Laws save that the alternative in Law 15 shall not be used. 22 The time limit shall be 45 minutes with 15 minutes added for games which are double banked. 23 (a) Matches shall comprise one round of doubles (with no restrictions on pairings but play teams in order of their combined handicaps) and four rounds of singles, all play all. However, matches may be restricted to 4 rounds of singles, if agreed by the captains before the start of play of the match. (b) The scores of 16-game matches shall be scaled up to equivalent 18-game matches when entered in the League Table using the following table:
(c) Where only one lawn is available the captains shall agree either to divide it into two short lawns and use the format in Rule 21(a) or to play singles only all play all with players taking turns to sit out. Due regard will be taken to the availability of equipment. The format shall be decided before the beginning of the season and the League Manager informed 24 (a) Initial handicaps shall be set by Club Handicappers using the test in WCF Rule 16 but giving due regard to Appendix 3 of the Croquet Association Laws. (b) Golf handicap cards are to be kept and used as described in Appendix 3 of the Croquet Association Laws Level Play Golf Croquet 25 All matches shall be played according to 'The Laws of Golf Croquet (3rd Edition)' - available on the CA website or can be purchased from the CA shop. 26 Each team shall consist of three players, with each match consisting of 18 Singles games - all play all - twice. 27 There are no time limits for games. 28 Each game will be level play and changes in individual handicap will be calculated as per the 'Level Play' index on the official CA handicap card:
Revision of NWFCC League Rules: These rules were: Revised March 2002; March 2003; March 2004; March 2005; March 2006; November 2007; November 2008; November 2009; November 2010; November 2011;November 2012; November 2013; March 2013; Additional Information: The Croquet Association Laws are available on the internet at: http://www.croquet.org The Laws of Association Croquet booklet is available from the Croquet Association Shop, priced £4. The WCF Rules are available a: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~croquet/laws/golf/wcf.htm |
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