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North West Federation of Croquet Clubs
LEAGUE RULES

(Amendmends agreed in November 2009 are underligned - rule 3 and rule 12a)

The first section describes General Rules, followed by specific sections on Advanced, Handicap, Short and Golf leagues.

General

1       Croquet Association Regulations for tournaments shall apply to matches played in all Leagues.

2a     The League Manager shall publish the date and venue for each match at least six weeks before the start of the League season. Team captains shall confirm the date for each match with their opponents and send their fixture lists with precise dates to the League Manager by the date announced by him/her. The League Manager will then publish the confirmed fixture list and announce the final date by which all matches must be played.

2b     Any rearrangements made subsequently shall be reported to the League Manager immediately. If a match is not played by the end of the season a walkover shall be awarded against a team failing to meet a confirmed date published by the League Manager or a subsequently re-arranged date agreed by the two captains and reported to the League Manager.

3       Matches shall be played between teams of three in the Advanced league and teams of four in other leagues. Whilst the normal start times for league matches is 10:00 am, opposing captains may agree other times as appropriate, eg 9:30 am for Advanced matches.

4a     Modified games as defined in Law 44 shall not be played.

4b     Local Laws as defined in Law 54 may be used.

4c     Smaller lawns as defined in CA Law 2(b)(6) may be used subject to the approval of the League Manager. Lawns which have been approved in previous years do not need to be re-approved unless they have been further reduced in size.

5       A club may be represented only by members of that club. No player may play for more than one team in a League in any one season unless authorised by the League Manager.

6a     If a member of a team fails to play a game or fails to play to the agreed time limit the game shall be conceded.

6b     One player shall not play both balls for a side in a doubles game. If one member of a side fails to arrive by the start of the game his/her ball shall be placed on the first or third corner and deemed to have been played by the absent player. If the defaulter arrives late he/she shall be allowed to join his/her partner and play his/her ball from the position in which he/she finds it.

7a     If weather conditions render the host's ground unfit for play the venue for the match may be changed by mutual agreement in order to meet the agreed date but a record of the original venue shall be kept for the purpose of deciding venues in future years.

7b     If bad weather affects playing conditions during the course of a match team captains may agree whether individual games or the match should be abandoned after considering opportunities for transferring play to other lawns. As far as is reasonable an in-player wishing to persevere in poor conditions should be allowed to do so.

7c     If captains fail to reach agreement the following test shall apply: -

A lawn is deemed unplayable if it is impossible to hit a ball the full length of the lawn along a North-South line which is not obstructed by a hoop or the peg. The captain who believes that the lawn is playable shall nominate a member of his/her team to demonstrate this by hitting a ball along a line chosen by the opposing captain.

If a game is abandoned the points score at the time of abandonment shall be taken as the final score provided that both players have played at least three shots. If this is not the case the game shall be declared void.

7d     The match result shall be the score of games completed or decided according to Rule 7(c) provided that the number of games thus counted equals at least half the number of games that should have been played. If fewer than half the games have been accounted for in this way the match shall be declared void and replayed on a date to be agreed between the captains. If it is not possible to replay the match before the end of the season neither club will be awarded a walkover. The host captain shall inform the League Manager the date of the replay.

8a     Two league points shall be awarded for a match win on games played and one point for a draw. In addition, for the Advanced league, bonus points will be awarded depending on Index increases (see Rule 15 below)

8b     In the event of a walkover the match shall be scored 4 - 0 for a Handicap match, 10 - 0 for a Short League match, 14 - 0 for a Golf match and 5 - 0 for an Advanced match.   The winning side earning 2 points.

8c     The results of matches shall be reported immediately to the League Manager by the host captain.

8d     At the end of the season the total number of points gained by each team shall be calculated and the team with the highest number of points in each League shall be declared the winner. In the event of a tie on match points, the team with the higher or highest number of net game points shall be declared the winner. In the event of a tie on match points and net game points the winning team will the be winner of the match between the teams. If this was drawn the League Manager will arrange a tiebreaker to be played in whatever form he decides.

9       In the event that the captains involved are unable to resolve an issue concerning the interpretation of these rules the following procedure will apply: -

The host captain shall provide the opposing captain with a written statement of the facts within seven days. If this captain agrees with this statement he/she shall forward it to the League Manager with a statement to this effect but add no further comment. If he/she disagrees with the statement of the facts he/she should forward it to the League Manager together with his/her statement with a copy to the host captain.   The League Manager shall decide the issue and send copies of his decision to both captains and the Federation Chairman.

Advanced and Handicap Leagues

10a   In the Advanced league, matches will be played between teams of three, comprising nine singles games, i.e. all play all.

10b   In the Handicap leagues, matches will be played between teams of four, comprising one doubles game and six singles games.

10c   Exceptionally where the home team has only one lawn the match may be played between teams of three as two doubles and two singles.

 11     In singles games players shall be matched in handicap order. There shall be no restriction on pairings in doubles but the teams shall be matched in order of their combined handicaps.

12a   Time limits for games shall be 2.5 hours in the Advanced League, 3 hours in the Midweek Handicap and 3 hours 15 minutes in the Weekend Handicap.   Shorter time limits are permissible providing both Captains agree.

12b   Time lost for stoppages shall be added to extend the time limit as agreed by the captains.

 13a   In handicap games players must play off their current CA handicap, or if none, their club handicap, subject to a maximum of 24 in singles and 20 in doubles.

13b   Handicap games shall be played full bisque to base 8. For this purpose the combined handicaps of doubles pairs shall be calculated as half the sum of their individual handicaps rounded up to the nearest half.

 14     Paragraph 3(b) of Appendix 3 to the Croquet Association Rules regarding the taking of bisques in handicap doubles games played to a base shall not apply.

15     In Advanced League matches, two league points will be awarded for a Win and one league point for a Draw.   In addition, Bonus League Points will be awarded to each team based on the total increase in Index changes for the team as follows:

16     Lawn settings shall be in the same proportion as for a full lawn i.e. a NS length unit of 1/5 th of the lawn's length and an EW width unit of ¼ of the lawn's width.

17     Time limits shall be 1 hour 15 minutes plus 15 minutes for double-banked games.

18     Games shall be full bisque handicap games to base 4.

19     Players shall play to their Short handicap subject to a maximum of 10.

20a   Clubs must ensure that Short Croquet players are aware of their responsibility to keep a Short Croquet handicap card which should be carried at all League matches.

20b   A player with a Full Lawn handicap shall play off either his/her Short Croquet handicap or the Short Croquet handicap equivalent of his/her Full Lawn handicap whichever has changed most recently. A player's Short Croquet handicap shall be adjusted whenever his/her Full Lawn handicap reduces and thereafter be subject to the Automatic Handicapping System.

20c   A player unable to produce a Short Croquet Handicap card shall play off a Short Croquet handicap of zero or the Short Croquet equivalent of his/her Full Lawn handicap whichever is the lower for the duration of the match. This rule may be waived only by the agreement of the two captains.

Additional Information:

 21     All matches shall be played according to Croquet Association Laws save that the alternative in Law 15 shall not be used.

22     The time limit shall be 45 minutes with 5 minutes added for games which are double banked.

23a   Where two full lawns are available matches will comprise 3 rounds of doubles (AB v ab, CD v cd, AC v ac, BD v bd, AD v ad, BC v bc) and 4 rounds of singles, all play all.  However, matches may be restricted to 4 rounds of singles at the request of either captain provided that the request is made before the beginning of the season and the League Manager is informed.

23b   The scores of 16-game matches shall be scaled up to equivalent 22-game matches when entered in the League Table using the following table:-

16 game score	16-0	15-1	14-2	13-3	12-4	11-5	10-6	9-7	8-8
Equivalent 22 game score	22-0	21-1	19-3	18-4	17-5	15-7	14-8	12-10	11-11

23c   Where only one lawn is available the captains shall agree either to divide it into two short lawns and use the format in Rule 21(a) or to play singles only all play all with players taking turns to sit out. Due regard will be taken to the availability of equipment. The format shall be decided before the beginning of the season and the League Manager informed

24a   Initial handicaps shall be set by Club Handicappers using the test in WCF Rule 16 but giving due regard to Appendix 3 of the Croquet Association Laws.

24b   Golf handicap cards are to be kept and used as described in Appendix 3 of the Croquet Association Laws

Revision of NWFCC League Rules:
These rules were: Revised March 2002; Revised March 2003; Revised March 2004; Revised March 2005; Revised March 2006; Revised November 2007; Revised November 2008; Revised November 2009;

Additional Information:
The Croquet Association Laws are available on the internet at:        http://www.croquet.org
The Laws of Association Croquet booklet is available from the Croquet Association Shop, priced £4.
The WCF Rules are available a:                      http://users.ox.ac.uk/~croquet/laws/golf/wcf.htm

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