Manly Mini Bash 11 (Jan / Mar 2024)

 

Overview

MWJCA's mid-season T20 tournament called the “Manly Mini Bash” (MMB) will be back again in January 2024. The format will be very similar to previous Mini Bashes with some minor changes.

 

The purpose of MMB is to provide players with an opportunity to play T20 cricket which they might not otherwise encounter. It will be run over 5 weeks in Jan/Mar as pool rounds followed by semi-finals in week 4 and finals in week 5.

 

Team registration is available HERE. Closes 23/12.

 

MMB Principles

• T20 cricket is an important part of cricket at all levels and MMB provides an opportunity for juniors to play it.

• MMB aims to provide a pressure-free environment in which players can enjoy T20 cricket. In earlier years MMB was often the only chance players had to play T20.

• Player stats are not recorded in MyCricket so averages, end of season awards etc are unaffected.

• Participation and fun are prioritised over winning.

• By holding it on weekday evenings it can replace coaching sessions which provides relief for coaches who would otherwise need to keep providing engaging sessions towards the backend of the season. 

• MMB has a modified rules and points system to provide incentives and rewards for certain styles of play. 

 

It is a separate tournament to the MWJCA Sat morning competition, therefore:

• Match results have no impact on the Sat morning competition ladders

• Player scores have no impact on individual player awards at the end of the season

• Match results and scores have no bearing on club championship points

• Match data is not entered into MyCricket 

 

We get consistent feedback that this lack of statistics and record keeping provides an environment in which players are free to experiment and play in a relaxed, enjoyable manner. Both players and parents enjoy the tournament and many teams use it as an opportunity to enjoy an early-evening BBQ while watching some entertaining cricket. 

 

Participation

In 2024 there will be MMB leagues of 4 teams each for boys' age groups U11/1 and above. For logistical reasons, it may not be possible for every team to play, although a great deal of effort is made to try to accommodate teams which have expressed a desire to take part.  We will seek early expressions of interest to find out which teams want to play and will try to ensure as much participation as possible regardless of ladder positions in Sat morning comp. Participation is free - there are no fees to be paid by players or clubs and MWJCA provides the balls. In lieu of a tournament fee we ask that teams contribute to a charity to help drought-stricken farmers.  

 

As girls already play T20 as part of the weekend MWJCA competition there are no dedicated girls teams in MMB. We encourage boys teams to include girls who would like to take part in their teams. This can be one way of ensuring there are always enough players on the team when other week night activities might clash. Girls are allowed to play for teams 2 years below their age group in MMB.

 

MMB has one or more leagues per age group. We use the term "leagues" to differentiate from the Sat morning "divisions". Your team may be in division 2 on Sat mornings, but league 1 in MMB. Allocation to a league is dependent on ladder positions in weekend comp as at Christmas. Leagues usually consist of 4 teams that play each other once in 3 pool rounds followed by a knockout semi-final and then final. Sometimes, due to numbers, a league has 6 teams instead of 4 - these leagues have no semi-final and the top 2 teams after 4 pool rounds play each other in a final (the top 2 "seeded" teams from weekend comp don't play each other in the pool rounds).

 

Structure

As far as possible, teams are expected to be comprised of the same players as for Saturday morning junior competition. Players should have played at least one match for the team in this season's Sat morning comp. Players who play up a year in Sat morning comp must continue to play in that age group and may not drop down a year for Manly Mini Bash.

 

It is recognised that teams may be short of players available to play on a week night and in these circumstances it is permissible for boys in the same/younger age group in the same club to be part of the team in order to ensure teams are able to take part, even if these players have not played any games for the team in Saturday morning junior competition. Girls from the same or another club can/should be invited to play and are permitted to play up to 2 years below their age group.

 

Whilst participation is a key part of the tournament, it would be counter to the spirit of the Manly Mini Bash to “draft in” players of a particularly high standard purely to strengthen a team’s chances of winning. Bringing in players of a similar standard to make up for unavoidable shortfalls of player numbers is encouraged to ensure everyone gets as much match play as possible.

 

 

Fixtures

Match fixtures, dates, and venues are largely driven by ground availability. Matches in a league are played the same week night each week starting at 4:45pm, usually on Tuesdays or Thursdays. If there is a large number of teams wanting to play some matches may have to be scheduled for Wednesdays if not enough grounds are available.

 

Rules

Tournament rules are very different to Sat morning comp. Detailed playing regulations are published on the MWJCA web site and it is essential that coaches, managers and scorers familiarise themselves with them before the tournament starts as there are some major differences (eg treatment of no balls and wides). There is also an extremely strong focus on getting through the overs in the time provided to avoid dangerous play during the hours of dusk. A brief summary is provided here, but please read the detailed playing regulations for a full description.

• Matches will start at 4:45pm and finish no later than 7:15pm (except for "super over" games)

• Max length of an innings is 70 mins. Max interval between innings is 10 mins

• Matches to be played with a single orange or pink ball (the same ball is used for both innings) provided by MWJCA

• Boundaries are shortened to encourage aggressive batting

• "5 + 5" style participation rules for batsmen and bowlers (similar to MWJCA weekend 1-day matches)

• Next batsman in must be ready to face within 60 seconds or be timed out

• Batsmen retire on 40 runs or 10 overs (whichever is first) but can go back in

• 2 bowlers @ max 4 overs + 4 bowlers @ max 3 overs. Max 2 overs in a spell

• Max 8 balls / over, except last over which must have 6 legal deliveries

• Front foot no balls result in a free hit

• Except for U11s and U12s, 1st wide/no ball in over = 1 sundry, subsequent wides/no balls in that over = 3 sundries each

• Each team must bat for at least 5 overs to make a match

• In the event of equal scores the match result is to be decided by a “super over” with the team scoring the most runs in the super over being declared the winner. Both coaches must assess and agree whether there is sufficient light for the "super over" to proceed safely.

 

Points

The points system is not based purely on wins vs losses. Instead, it's designed with a bonus system to reward certain aspects of cricket.

 

Points for winning:

• If there is no “super over” 6 points are awarded for winning, 0 for losing. If a “super over” is played 4 points for winning, 2 for losing.

• 3 points awarded to each team in the case of a tie or a washout.

Additional bonus points as rewards for cricketing skills:

• 1 point for every individual batsman’s score of 20, 40, 60 etc

• 1 point for every 3 wickets taken + 2 bonus points for getting the team all out

• 1 point for passing 1st team’s runs in < 80% of overs available (e.g. < 16 complete overs in a full game)

• 1 point for restricting 2nd team's runs to < 80% of 1st team's runs

• 1 point for each maiden over bowled

• A team can play their "Joker" in one (and only one) match in order to earn double bonus points

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Finals

• Most leagues are made up of 4 teams where semi-finals are a knockout round with the 1st-placed team playing the 4th-placed  team, and the 2nd team playing the 3rd. If teams are tied on points after 3 rounds, 0.1 points will be awarded to the team that scored more points when they played each other; if they scored equal points the team that won the match will be awarded the extra 0.1 points.

• Winners of semi-finals play each other in a final. In the event of semi-finals being washed out the final will be played between the top 2 placed teams after the initial pool rounds.

• Semi-finals and finals are decided simply by the most runs. No bonus points system is in place for semi-finals or finals so match result sheets are not required

• Finals will be played mid-week to avoid player clashes with Presidents Cup and other weekend matches. Independent umpires will be allocated for finals. The batting team provides the square-leg umpire.

 

Results

A Manly Mini Bash match result sheet must be submitted to tournament organisers on the same night the match is completed so that points can be calculated. Only one match result sheet should be submitted per match - one sheet which must be signed by both teams, so scorers need to complete this together at the end of the match and sign it. The winning team is responsible for submitting it. Scorebook sheets are not required, nor should the stats or results be entered into MyCricket, but please note that score sheets still need to be compiled during play in order to generate the figures for the match result sheet. Once submitted match result sheets may not be amended so its important that both teams agree and sign them on the night of the match.

Team managers are asked to ensure that scorers understand the modified MMB rules (eg extra sundries for 2nd and subsequent wides/no balls in an over) and how to complete the results sheet. As for Sat morning comp, MWJCA recommend that the same person score all the matches as this usually achieves a better result. The match results sheets provide guidance on page 2 on how to fill in the fields, so please make that known to whoever is scoring and ensure both sides of the results sheet are printed. Even though we're now in the seventh year of MMB there can be issues and misunderstandings, so please feel free to provide any feedback (good or bad!) in the Notes/Comments section.

League ladders are published on the MWJCA web site following the calculation of each round's results sheets. Neither match results nor player stats will be entered into MyCricket.