Umpires to adopt new voting system for 'MCC Spirit of Cricket County Team Award'

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today underlined its commitment to the MCC's `Spirit of Cricket' initiative by adopting a more thorough approach to the award.

A trophy is on offer each season to the most disciplined county cricket team.

From this summer, points will be awarded by the umpires to each team at the end of each Frizzell County Championship match, totesport League match and Twenty20 Cup group match, based on the conduct of all members of the side.

Each county's points tally will be logged in a table with the top team at the end of the season winning the `MCC Spirit of Cricket County Team Award'.

Points will be awarded in the following way:

• Three points: Exceptional. The team epitomised the true spirit of the game.

• Two points: The team played the game in a good spirit.

• One point: The team is less than good spirited, but manages an incident-free game.

• Zero points: The team created a generally antagonistic atmosphere.

• Minus one point: The team demonstrated unacceptable behaviour.

If a player is found guilty of a breach of the ECB Code of Conduct during a match, his team will automatically receive a minus one rating.

To recognise the differences in match duration, points awarded in Frizzell County Championship games will receive a 3:1 weighting.

In a further development designed to improve communication between umpires and players, and thus minimise ill-feeling on the pitch, umpires are being asked to communicate pro-actively the reasons behind the decisions they make.

This initiative, put together by the PCA and the First-Class Umpires Association, is intended to take the immediate `heat' out of any situation where a player feels he may have been treated harshly, though it is clear that any questioning of the umpire's reasoning is not acceptable.

Alan Fordham, ECB cricket operations manager (first-class cricket), said, "These initiatives are designed to reinforce the Spirit of Cricket message, and to celebrate the team which has, over the course of the season, played the game in the right way.

"Whilst we don't feel that we have a major disciplinary problem in professional cricket, we are all agreed that we must do our best to promote the `spirit' of the game in any way we can.

"Setting an example at the top end will also help spread the message at lower levels.

"We are grateful to UK Sport and the University of Gloucestershire for working with the PCA and ourselves to put our disciplinary issues in context with the wider sporting and social environment, and we look forward to reporting positively as the season progresses."

Tony Dodemaide, MCC head of cricket, said, "We are delighted that the first-class game is getting behind our efforts to create awareness of this message.

"The Spirit of Cricket is relevant to all levels, from elite to village and recreational cricket, and this will go a long way to encouraging all cricketers in the UK to think about the way they approach and play the game."

Martyn Ball, chairman of the PCA, said, "The players are very keen to ensure that they fulfil their responsibilities to the game and are grateful to have been part of the discussions regarding discipline in professional cricket.

"They are looking forward to working with the umpires to improving the environment in which the game is played without detracting from the competitive nature of the sport, and to providing a better product for spectators both at the grounds and on television."