The Ethos of St. Mary's CC is enshrined in the words on the front of our website: "We aim to play cricket competitively but fairly and in good humour reflecting the Christian faith that underpins the club."

Following the poor behaviour of some of our opposition I want to document how this works out in practice so that we ensure that we never fall into poor on or off field behaviour.

Please remember that playing any competitive sport it is essential that you do all you can to win the match fairly, this Code of Conduct does not seek to minimise our competitiveness but to set boundaries on behaviour so that our competitors, officials and our own team players come away from any St. Mary's CC event with a positive response.

So how does this work out in practice?

UMPIRES AND OTHER MATCH OFFICIALS
At all times St. Mary's players must fully respect the umpires and any other officials such as scorers involved in the match.  These roles are difficult and can be stressful and it is the responsibility of every St. Mary's player to do all they can to ensure that their role is as easy as possible.  In such:
1. No player should appeal for a wicket unless convinced there is a genuine claim.
2. Any batsman who knows they have hit the ball and that the ball has been fairly caught must walk.
3. It is valid to politely question an umpires decision, but there should be no prolonged discussions regarding umpiring decisions or undue pressure exerted on an umpire to make a decision.  Any controversial decisions must be forgotten once the next ball is bowled.
4. There is never any occasion for abusive or foul language to be used towards an umpire.
5. Any momentary loss of temper towards an official is not acceptable, but if it occurs should immediately be followed by an apology to the person concerned.

OPPOSITION
All players must be polite and friendly to the opposition at all times.
1. There are no occasions when abusive or foul language is allowed towards an opposition player.
2. Friendly banter between opponents enhances the game, but sledging or rude remarks towards an opponent are never acceptable.
3. All players should applaud the opposition at appropriate times, such as the arrival at the crease, on scoring 50's and 100's, and when at the end of an innings for a  batsman who has played well.
4. Handshakes should be offered at all appropriate times, e.g. on conclusion of the match.  It is never acceptable to withhold a handshake.
5. Any momentary loss of temper towards an opponent is not acceptable, but if it occurs should immediately be followed by an apology to the person concerned.

ST MARY'S PLAYERS
In the same way as we respect officials and opponents we should respect each other within the team.
1. No abusive or foul language should be used at other players within the team.
2. Remember when a player makes a mistake they feel bad about it, remember this when joking or mocking to be sensitive to the players feeling.
3. Always treat each other with respect.
4. Any momentary loss of temper towards a fellow team member is not acceptable, but if it occurs should immediately be followed by an apology to the person concerned.
5. Any player who sees another St. Mary's player behaving improperly as outlined above should correct the player involved and in more extreme circumstances bring the behaviour to the attention of the club captain on the day.

As a club committee we will punish players who infringe on these rules, most likely by suspension for an appropriate time.  For serious offences the club committee will meet to discuss the offence, the committee is: Keith Waldock, Dan Vickery, Andy Tucker, James Buckland, Rupert Shelley & Russell Hawkins.

These rules are not meant to stifle the competitive nature of St. Mary's cricket but to ensure that we maintain the atmosphere where players want to come and play for our club and our opposition leave disappointed at having lost the match but happy to have had an enjoyable time.  I do not ever want to see the sort of behaviour we have occasionally witnessed carried out by a St. Mary's player.