by allrounder » Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:11 am
An anonymous email that was recieved by three of the B grade teams competeing in the finals series
I have come across some interesting statistics in respect of B Grade player Brad Morrison who represented Flagstaff Hill in a semi final last weekend. He is quite a reasonable cricketer and took 5 wickets for 14 which in no small way helped FHCC win their semi final.
He is listed on MyCricket as having been 'selected' by FHCC in B Grade rounds 4,5,6,8,9 and 10 during the season, a total of 7 days cricket. He certainly played in Round 9, and as Round 8 was lost to heat and selection is therefore effectively at the discretion of clubs, he can be assumed to have 'played' on that day as well.
Of the other 4 games he was 'selected' for he appears in the match detail schedules only once, suggesting that his name was added to the selection lists after the match detail was input in the three other cases, which is unusual. Also noted is that he apparently did not bat or bowl or take a catch in any of those four games, which would be highly unusual, as he does have good cricketing ability.
While the above comments could lead to a suggestion that Brad did not play those four games, it is not 100% conclusive, as he could have attended but not taken the field. Again highly unusual, but possible.
However, I am of the understanding that he had originally left cricket after last season to play baseball for Goodwood this summer. I have found internet match records from Baseball SA confirming that he played for Goodwood's Division four side on the afternoons of 21 November, 28 November and 30 January, which correspond to the dates of SCA rounds 4 and 10 in the B Grade. This suggests that it would have been impossible for him to be playing cricket on those days.
As a result, it could be argued that even after allowing for his valid selection in rounds 5,6,8, and 9 (of which 5&6 look strange), his selections in rounds 4 and 10 were not valid, and he only accrued 4 days of cricket played for qualification purposes. This would make his selection in last weekend's semi final (and any subsequent final) in contravention of SCA By Law 19.1 which requires 6 days of minor round cricket to be accrued to qualify a player for finals.
I have no reason to query or protest this issue myself, as I am not involved in SCA administration or any affected club. However you may after consideration wish to investigate this matter further yourselves.
Will the association do anything about it or continue to be a toothless tiger ????
Up the Potters
!