The Cheshire Cricket League

Well guys, there seem to be a lot of you out there who don't have a good grip of the 2008 Points System, so here goes with an explanation & a few comparisons/anomalies with the previous system.

Wins
This is the easy bit. If you bat first & win, you get 25 points, full stop, no Bonus points. New for 2008, if you lose the toss and are forced to bat second, you still get 25 pts if you win. But if you win the toss and choose to bat second and win, you get 20 points, again no Bonus points.
Tie
Remembering that, as in normal Cricket Rules, we only consider a match to be tied if the side batting second are All Out, both sides get 18 points, once again with no Bonus points.
Draws
Now it gets trickier.
We no longer have the concept of Winning or Losing Draw. Unless the scores are level, then both sides get two points for the Draw plus Bonus points (see below).
Now the really tricky bit.
In the case of a level-scores draw (ie as in Oakmere v Runcorn) where the side batting second is *not* All Out, then the side batting second gets 18 points, while the side who batted first get the normal 2 Draw points plus Bonus Points.
Bonus Points
The only change in the earning of Bonus Points is that the side batting first now get double Batting Points. The Bowling Points remain the same. Batting points still earned at 110, 125, 140, 155, 170 and Bowling Points still earned at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 wickets.
Abandoned
Unlike previously, any match unfinished at the Time Limit (6 hrs 15 after Scheduled start) is counted as Abandoned. By *unfinished*, I mean that a positive result has not been achieved, either by a Win, Tie or a Draw (see below about Delayed Starts, Interruptions, etc). Both sides get 7 pts or bonus Points earned, whichever is the greater. Draw pts are *not* available in an abandoned match!

Delayed start/Interruptions
We start with a maximum of 90 overs for the match, max 45 to the side batting first (Team A), who can Declare at any time after 25 overs. If the start is delayed, the total overs is reduced by 2, and the max allocation for Team A reduced by 1 for every complete 8 mins lost. For example, the scheduled start is 2pm & play gets under way at about 3:10, thus 8 lots of 8 mins have been lost reducing the total overs to 74 with a max of 37 for Team A. This is unchanged from previous years.
If there are interruptions during the first innings, the total number of overs is reduced by 1 for each 4 mins lost, but Team A can still take their full allocation. To continue our example match, 20 mins are lost during the first innings, thus reducing the total number of overs in the match to 69, but Team A can still bat for 37, leaving 32 for Team B. This is also unchanged from previous years.
Get another Coffee lads, you'll need all the brain cells fully charged for this next bit.
The remaining overs at the start of the 2nd innings now becomes the *minimum number of overs* to be bowled to qualify as a Draw rather than an Abandoned match. (Remember that both sides now get 2 pts for a Draw)
If there are Interruptions during or a delayed start to Team B's innings, then the minimum number of overs is reduced by 1 for each complete 4 mins lost. Continuing our example, a further 20mins are lost during Team B's innings, reducing the minimum number of overs to 27. If the 6.25 hour time limit is reached before the minimum overs have been bowled, then the match is considered to be Abandoned (a change from previous years), but if the minimum overs have been bowled before the time limit, then play may continue up until the time limit or the minimum overs have been bowled.
At the end of play, if neither side has won & it's not a Tie, then if the minimum overs were bowled both sides get two pts for the Draw.

And that's all there is to it!

There are a few curiosities/anomalies with the new system as opposed to previous years.
For example, previously a side batting second with no chance of winning had nothing to play for except preventing the opposition from getting a win. With the last pair at the crease, the last wicket was worth 10 extra points, regardless of how many runs the side batting first had scored. Now, the side batting secong can *gain* 2 points by hanging on for a Draw, while the last wicket could be worth up to 18 extra points to the opposition. So it can be seen that there is now more incentive for the side batting second to stitch it!
The level-scores Draw is a real curio. Consider a low-scoring match (possibly reduced to 25 overs a side by a delayed start), where Team A scores 109-0 and Team B manages to scrape to 109-9 off their overs. Under the previous Points system, both teams would have got 5 pts for the Draw (assuming Team B faced at least as many overs as Team A), so Team A would have got 10 pts to Team B's 5 pts. Under the new Points system, Team A will get 7 pts (5 Bowling plus 2 Draw) while Team B will get 18 Pts!!!
Wow! Bit of a difference there!
Now that there are no more winning Draws, there is much less incentive for Team A to Declare at halfway where Rain has interrupted the 1st innings. It is probably now better to carry on batting to get as many batting pts (doubled!) as possible. And even less incentive to charge through the remaining overs inside the time limit in a rain-affected 2nd innings (to get some overs back) if Team B are the only likely winners!