Reg 23.2.3 Unexpected Replacement Players in Finals

 WHAT'S THIS ABOUT

To allow unexpected replacements in Saturday finals.

DISCUSSION

QSDCA introduced a unexpected replacement rule in 2019. It was modelled on Qld Premier Cricket Reg 1.3.3 (See Reg 1.3.3 on p28 of this LINK TO Premier Cricket Regs

QSDCA version is Regulation 23.2. 

Compared to the Premier Cricket version QSDCA 

• allows multiple replacements
• allows replacement for a wider range of reasons
• the replaced player suspension period is 3 Saturdays rather than 20 calendar days
• and...replacement is disallowed in finals. 
  

The rule balances between application and approval of an unexpected replacement (due to injury or other reasons) and the fact that the replaced player is forced to sit out the next game. 

A major advantage of this approach is the NO CONTEST for replacement approval. 

• If a team applies for an expected replacement they sacrifice one of their players for the next game. If the replaced player is truly injured then they might be out for the next game anyway. But the"deal" is simple.
  

• The association approval merely limits itself to questions like "is the replacement eligible?" i.e. registered and graded correctly. Again, nice and simple.

Importantly the "deal" requires NO confirmation or proof of injury or illness from the replaced player or their team. This has advantages in removing the steps needed to acquire some proof (a medical certificate perhaps) or to submit, process, file it.

Since first introduced, the QSDCA regulation stipulated no replacements in finals since the "player suspension" part of the unexpected replacement "deal" cannot be applied in a knock out final. 

In short, in a final there's no game to miss the next week. 

The reason to have the unexpected replacement rule is to prevent the unfairness of teams being forced to play with a player missing if/when they're unexpectedly injured.

This leads to a dilemma faced recently where there have been some injury incidents which have removed a player from the match during a final.

It is considered that extending the Unexpected Replacements rule to finals is needed.

Question is how.

Mark said (24-Mar by email)

• Currently there is no way to replace an injured player during a final. We allow it during the season. I would suggest if a team can produce a Doctors Certificate within 45 minutes of play resuming on Day 2 then a replacement can be allowed. This limits it to only “medical” issues. As we have 2 umpires for Finals I think it can be shown to them?

Adam Brady (24-Mar by email) added 

• The injury must have occurred during play on Day 1
• The injury must be confirmed by the Umpires
• Do we exclude soft tissue injuries i.e. hamstring, calf etc. think of Nathan Lyon batting in the Lords Ashes test, a player can still hold a bat, and we do allow a runner in QSDCA.
• So some examples of when we would allow a replacement player would be broken bones, hit to the head that doesn’t result in concussion (like what happened this weekend).
• Must be on medical grounds only and ruled out of play on Day 2 by a doctor.

Adam and Mark came up with this proposal in early July 2024.

"..below in RED is what we propose as additions to playing regulation 23.2.3 as well as the preamble prior to 23.2.11

 23.2.3 Unexpected circumstances player replacement does not apply in Semi Final and Grand Final matches, except in the case of serious injury or illness.  This replacement can only be made by submitting a medical certificate to the Association Secretary within  one hour of commencement of play on Day 2.  This submission must also include the name of the replacement player, who must also be eligible for selection.

STEPS FOR THE CLUB SECRETARY (OR DEPUTY) OF A PLAYER TO BE REPLACED (EXCLUDING SEMI FINAL AND GRAND FINAL MATCHES)"

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ABM comment:

• The proposal does not define what serious injury or illness is or what the difference between different medical conditions could be. Such decisions will be forced on medically unqualified Association admin officials (or worse, umpires) to make them.
  

• The sentence about "submitting.. within 1 hour of the commencement of day 2" unfortunately permits submission up to 11am after a 10am start. (I assume this is a mistake... which shows how easy it is to make a mistake!!! Change "within" to "before"?)

• The last sentence redundantly repeats requirements detailed in other Regs.

Please can we forget the Medical Certificate step? It's paperwork, to be collected  and filed and all the rest.

The suggested proposal relies on collecting medical certificates.

Medical certificates are not a good measure of sports fitness.

1. They often state the reason for incapacity is "a medical condition". 

Worse, they sometimes say "the patient states they have a medical condition". 

These are a different class of medical certificate to a report which says that a patient has a subdural haematoma in the frontal lobe of the skull (say). 

All medical certificates do not have the same meaning and value.

 

2. Most serious medical problems which occur in cricket (head trauma, broken limbs, various forms of collapse) will actually be obvious to all players and umpires in the match. 

Medical certificates are often unnecessary in this kind of situation and are of little practical value in a properly serious medical situation.

3. Medical certificates are now granted by pharmacies for a simple fee (see www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/instant-consult) or, more traditionally, by suspiciously compliant medicos. The origin of medical certificates is mired in the history of job award legislation which is not relevant to sport in general or cricket in particular.Just because your workplace relies on them is not reason for anyone else to.

Medical certificates are a bureaucratic device to satisfy employers...

4. Med certs could be hard to get on a Saturday night or a Sunday morning. Will we accept a hospital discharge report? Or an xray request? Or a pathology report (in a case of infectious disease)? I feel sure these will be submitted in some cases. Do we understand the differences? How is the Association Secretary meant to make reliable judgements about medical issues contained within these items?

e.g. is an "episiotomy burn" a valid medical condition for cricketers to allow a stand down? (Beware of a trick question there...)

5. And, calling on overworked Doctors and swamped hospitals to provide paperwork is quite a cheeky ask for a non-medical, non-legal purpose such as completing a cricket match. What right does cricket have to call on public health resources to cater to rules the sport of cricket makes up (in these days of 2 week waits for a GP appointment and ambulance ramping at hospital A&E's)? None whatsoever (IMHO).

The admin sucks

Worst of all the actions of collecting the medical certificate, submitting it to the Association, filing it, assessing it and communicating a decision effectively to both teams and the umpires in a timely manner requires a great deal of admin work which the association should, ordinarily try to avoid.

The communication of the request and the decision effectively between Saturdays in regular Rounds (6 whole days) leaves something to be desired already. 

That step, if attempted between 5pm Saturday and 10am Sunday the next day (less than 17 hours), will be tested *very* hard indeed.

A NEW PROPOSAL

We need an allowance for replacements in finals which is 

• fair (to both teams e.g. the game remains 11 v 11), 
• orderly (replacements are done according to the rules as well as accepted by both sides i.e. no arguing!!) and
• administratively feasible (the steps required do not require impossible timelines and difficult decisions and acres of paperwork) 

If the replacements in final rule is like this it will be a breeze to use and have.

Here's some "test" questions.

Why are we changing the no replacements in finals rule? To eliminate the unfair possibility of a team batting only 9 wickets and/or fielding only 10 in a final when someone is badly hurt. 

How has this been rorted in the past? This issue applies to a maximum of 21 Saturday SF's and GF's each year out of about 320 Saturday games each season (since 2019). Not that many times (I think).

There are some ideas to consider.

Here's a few in summary.

1. List injury replacement reserves in the team list, only to be used if needed/authorised. (This requires an extension to existing procedures i.e. writing different things on the team list.. Long winded new rule required and players (and umpires) will find it unfamiliar.)

2. Ask the captain of the side with the replaced player to seek written consent from the opposition captain as in Law 1.2.2.  (We could do a form!!) 

• Law 1.2.2 says:
• 1.2.2 No player may be replaced after the nomination without the consent of the opposing
  captain.
  
• Replacement MUST be eligible as in Regs 23.2.5 to 23.2.8. 
• Lodge the form with cricketops@qsdca.com.au then proceed when cricketops makes eligibility decision.
  
• Any disputes refer to the written consent. 
• If written consent is granted then arguments about appropriateness of the replacement are shorted out. (i.e. Opp capt gave his consent, stop moaning.)
  
• If the written consent is not forthcoming (or gets lost) there could be arguments.... 
• If this became "standard practice" in other rounds it could get **way** out of hand.... 
• e.g. "hey skip, do you mind if we change a player? Just sign here and we can p*ss off the (other) paperwork..."  Hmm...
  

3. Suspend the injury replaced player for the next game whether it be the Grand Final or the first game of the following season. (This is like what happens in Rounds 1-14 now. This may be difficult if the player changes clubs but is far from impossible.)

4. Limit the injury replacement to 1 (or maybe 2) players only for finals. (This makes the chance of "rorting" less outrageous but will not prevent it.)

Option 3 would be easy to write a new regulation for. 

23.2.3 NIL

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ABM 4-Feb-2024

(Updated 18-Jul-2024) 

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