The Selection Policy as described below is considered to be appropriate in any given year - the details of which can be reviewed on an annual basis by the standing committee. The Selection Policy must be in line with the club objectives of catering for the needs and expectations of the majority of the club's members in any given age group. We believe it is not appropriate for an U13 team to be managed in the same way as an U10 team and therefore the Selection Policy should differ in various age groups as children mature in both age and ability. Selection Policy can also differ between league, tournament, and ad-hoc (friendly) games.
Paid-up players will be selected first, secondly players who regularly make themselves available for matches. Regular commitment makes planning & scheduling easier. Players willing to play a match who are not selected should typically be selected ahead of other players in the next match while considering the aforementioned policy.
Assuming a minimum 20 over innings: Batters to face up to a set number of balls e.g. 20. Bowlers to be given a minimum of 2 overs. Additional overs can be given to the best performing bowlers on the day. Retired batters will return to batting in the order they went into bat.
Players are given individual roles for each match: Batting, Bowling and All Rounders. It should be expected that batters are not retired, however some discretion is given to managers in this regard, considering the (expected) length of the match and the ability of the opponents.
Bowlers: There are four nominated bowlers. Two opening bowlers are allowed more overs but never more than 4 each in a 20 over match. Bowlers 3 & 4 must be given at least 2 overs each (max 3) before any dedicated batters are allowed to bowl (in a 20 over match.)
All Rounders: There are two nominated all-rounders. One is allowed to bowl in position 1-5. The other is allowed to bat in position 1-6. Neither all-rounders are to bat in positions 8-11.
Batters: There are five nominated batters and must all bat within the top 7.
Leaders: There will be a nominated batting, bowling, and fielding leader (one each.) Batting and bowling leaders will choose their own line up within the parameters set by the manager as per above. Managers should assist leaders with selection where required.
All designated bowlers should get a chance to bowl. It may be that some designated batters may not bat or bowl in any given match. Managers are to take note of these instances and ensure that the same player “left out” be pushed into a position the following week that should encourage participation in either batting or bowling – of which the player request should be taken into account.
The role-based approach may seem complex – but in practice works well. The idea behind this approach is to get players ready for high school cricket while still having a degree of rotation, with the goal of learning the different roles in the team.
Regardless of the age group, there is an expectation that children playing matches have some minimum level of ability/experience. This means, particularly when referring to bowling, that we believe it reasonable to expect that players selected to bowl on any given day would ordinarily be able to bowl a majority of legal balls. While we understand players may have good or bad days the managers retain the right not to bowl a player where the manager feels the player has not yet learned to bowl – or there is a high percentage chance that 5 of the 6 balls in an over will be wides or no-balls. In this case we encourage players to work with our coaches on a Friday to assist them with correct technique. This policy is not in place for the sake of winning but out of respect to all players on the field including the bowler themselves.
Players will be selected on ability. Managers will have discretion over how best to manage the selected team, however no player should come away from the tournament with the feeling of being a “fielder only.” As a guideline from U10-U12: a rotation policy, for instance, within a batting line up should allow for the top 5 positions to be rotated in those specific positions, while the bottom 6 also be rotated. (e.g. number 11 batters move to number 6 in the next match and vice versa.) Batters in position 6-11 should be given adequate opportunity to bowl throughout the tournament.
Players are allowed to “play up” age groups if the player has stand out ability. Our independent coaches are to put forward the names of these players to the committee for review and acceptance of such players.
The success of the management of each team is dependent on our volunteer team managers. The more managers (as well as players) we have, the more the club can cater for additional teams – and in the style/approach most suited for those teams. We encourage parents to please assist in this regard to make our (and your!) club a success.