NWCL, Bylaws

THE BYLAWS OF THE NORTHWEST CRICKET LEAGUE

Revised 5/2/98
NAME
1. The name of the League shall be "The NORTHWEST CRICKET LEAGUE" (NWCL).
OBJECTIVE
2. The objective of the League shall be to control organize, foster, improve, aid and extend the game of cricket.

OFFICERS
3. The following shall be the officers of the League:
a) The President
b) The Vice President
c) The Secretary
d) The Treasurer

All posts shall be honorary. The officers shall be elected every year at the Annual General Meeting for a period of one year and each will be a member of a club affiliated to the League for that year.
4. The President, or in his absence, the Vice President, shall preside at all meetings of the League. In the absence of both the President and the Vice President at any meeting of the League, the members present at that meeting shall choose any one of their number to act as facilitator for that meeting.
5. The duties of the Secretary shall be to attend all correspondence, and to keep an accurate record of all proceedings of the League and the Board of Directors; and to keep a register of all Clubs which are members of the League.
6. The duties of the Treasurer shall be to keep an accurate record of all moneys received and disbursed. He shall have the books of the League audited by an auditor appointed by the Board of Directors, and shall make a report of the affairs and finances of the league at every Annual Meeting thereof. The Treasurer shall issue a receipt for all monies received and shall deposit such monies in a chartered bank or trust company. The treasurer will also be responsible to publish a budget before the league season begins and get it approved by the Board of Directors. All checks shall be signed by two of the three officers listed in article 3 above. However, if only one officer is available to sign a check, then at least one other officer must give signature approval, either orally or in writing.
7. Any cricket club seeking membership in the League shall make a written application which must be delivered to the Secretary. This application must be accompanied by at least 15 names of individuals who are paying members of the club, and evidence that the club has its own equipment, such as bats, pads, gloves, helmets, stumps, mat, other protective equipment.
8. Such application shall be accompanied by an entrance fee equivalent to the Club dues prevailing for the year in which the Club makes its application to the League. Additional dues will not be assessed for that first year of membership.
9. All applications for membership shall be subject to approval by the Board of Directors. In the event of any application being rejected, the entrance fee therewith shall be returned.

MANAGEMENT
10. The management of the League shall be vested in a body named "THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS", which shall consist of the President, the Vice- President, the Secretary, the Treasurer and one delegate assigned by each Club in the League. These delegates shall each have one casting vote. In addition, the Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary each have one vote. The President shall cast the deciding vote in case of the ties. In these bylaws, where a fraction or percentage of people or matches is mentioned (e.g., a quorum), the actual number is determined by rounding down to the nearest whole number.

10a The delegates for each club shall represent the interests of their club not their own personal interests.

11. In addition to the powers, duties and authorities herein conferred upon it, and without in any ways limiting its general powers, the Board of Directors shall have the following powers:
a) To conduct the business of the League and control its finances and to make all expenditures in connection with the operation and conduct thereof.
b) To suspend any club or team entered in the League for willful violation of these bylaws or of the rules of the game of cricket as they apply to this league.
c) To expel from the League, or suspend from play in any match, any player guilty of willful violation of these bylaws, or of unfair or unsportsman-like conduct.
d) To appoint a committee of inquiry in relation to the foregoing within seven days of the receipt of the any report. All clubs and members concerned shall have the right to appear before the committee of inquiry, which shall meet within 30 days of being appointed.

16. The Board of Directors shall meet from time to time at the call of the President and may appoint such sub-committee and delegate such of its power thereto as it thinks fit.

17. An Officer or Board of Directors member shall vacate office if:
a) Said person is absent from three consecutive meetings without reason being given to the President either orally or in writing and such reason be approved by the Board of Directors prior to said absence,
b) By notice to the President, the office is resigned. In the case of the President, the resignation will be reported to the Board of Directors. It will be the responsibility of the officer or the representative of the club to find a replacement.

18. Clubs can change official delegates by informing the President in writing. Frequent changing of delegates, however, is not recommended. The league recommends that each official delegate try to stay on for at least two years.

20. Subject to the Laws of the State and the Country, each and every Officer and Board of Directors member, during their term in office shall be indemnified against, and it shall be the obligation of the league to Pay all costs, taxes, charges and expenses incurred in the carrying out of their authorized duties.

MEETINGS
21. The Annual General Meeting shall be held in November each year. The venue for this meeting will alternate between the Seattle and Portland Metropolitan areas, with it being held in Seattle in the odd numbered years and in Portland in the even numbered years. The Board of Directors will assign a club, residing in the respective area, the responsibility of making the necessary arrangements for this meeting.

22. All questions submitted to any general meeting of the League shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the club delegates and voting officers. A club delegate or an officer, who will be unable to attend, will need to notify the secretary at least 24 hours in advance of their replacement. In the case of a tie, the President, shall have the casting vote. If a club delegate, voting officer, president, or their replacement are not present at the meeting, then they will lose their ability to vote.

23. No person who is not either a registered player, an officer of the league, or an officer of a member club shall have any voice at any meeting of the League.

24. Thirty (30) days of notice of the Annual General Meeting of the League shall be given by the Secretary to the Delegates of all member clubs. Notification for any other meeting will be sent out by the secretary at least ten (10) days in advance of that meeting.

25. The Board of Directors may, whenever it thinks fit, require the calling of an extraordinary general meeting.

26. The quorum for transaction of business at any general meeting shall be at least 2/3rds of the membership of the board of directors. If within an hour from the time appointed for any regular Board of Directors meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting shall be adjourned. Notice for the replacement meeting shall be sent out within one week of the adjournment.

REGISTRATION OF PLAYERS
27. All clubs must use Registration forms supplied by the League to register players prior for them playing for the Club for League sanctioned matches. All new players joining a club during the course of the season need to be registered with the NWCL secretary before playing in a league match.

29a. A player can change teams once during a season provided that this is before July 15.

29b. For a Club with two teams, 8 players will be `registered` to each team. These players will play for that team only and can change teams (or clubs) only once per season as defined in 29a above.

30. In the event of a player transferring from one club to another during the playing season, such player shall obtain a written release from the club with which he is registered, which shall be forwarded to the Secretary prior to his playing for the second club. In the event of a refusal for the club to grant the written release for any reason, an appeal will be made to the Board of Directors for such a release by the player concerned.

31. Any club which plays a player registered with for another Club will be fined at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will forfeit any points to the opposing team for games in which such player has played.

DIVISION OF THE LEAGUE
32. The League shall be comprised of one division.

PLAYING SEASON
32.1. The playing season shall commence on the second weekend in May and end not later than the last weekend in October except at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

ARRANGING MATCHES
32.2. The Board of Directors shall appoint a Scheduling Committee to arrange the schedule of the League matches at the commencement of each season. All matches shall be played as scheduled unless the Board of Directors decides otherwise, except that:
a) any club unable to field a team of at least 8 players shall automatically default the match and all points to its opponent,
b) any match that is not completed on account of the weather shall be deemed abandoned and points shall be shared.
c) For matches played in Pullman vs. WSU CC, the visiting team can play with 7 of its registered players. WSU CC is obligated to provide players to make up 11 for the visiting team, if so short in the number of players. The players lent by WSU CC to the visiting team will be deemed NOT to have changed teams.
32.3. The NWCL schedule will be made using the ground availability dates recieved by 3/31 of each year. After that, a club will not qualify to play in the NWCL league competition games during that season.

PLAYING RULES

33. The 1980 MCC Code of Laws will be governing rules for all matches sanctioned by the League, except for those instances listed in the Rules Governing the Game Document.

34. The Board of Directors from time to time make rules governing the play of all matches. These playing rules shall be published annually. No playing rules however, shall be changed except by majority vote of the Board of Directors.

PROTESTS
35. Any club shall have the right to protest the result of any match within forty five (45) days of the same by making a written submission to the secretary stating clearly the basis on which the protest is being lodged. The Secretary shall forthwith furnish a copy of such protest to each member of the Board of Directors' Appointed Protest Committee and to the Secretary of the Club and /or individual against which the protest has been lodged. They shall forthwith provide a written reply to the Secretary.

36. Upon receipt of such written submissions the Protest Committee shall within seven (7) days call for a hearing, if deemed necessary, make its decision and advise same in writing along with the reason to the clubs and/or individuals concerned. Should either club wish to appeal the decision they must do so within five (5) days of the receipt of the result of the protest, request a hearing before the Board of Directors and then both clubs shall be entitled to attend a hearing at the next Board of Directors meeting.

37. The protest fee shall be twenty five ($25.00) dollars and shall accompany the protest. In the event of the protest being sustained such fee shall be returned. If the protest fails, such fee shall be forfeited to the league.

GROUNDS
38. Each individual club will be responsible for the procurement of their home grounds through the appropriate authority exercising jurisdiction over the ground. It is recommended that clubs in the same region shall cooperate with each other in their efforts to find a ground.
38.1. A club, that does not have its own ground and is using another club's ground for a home game, is responsible for paying the ground usage fee and for preparing the field prior to that game.

ASSESSMENT OF CLUBS
39. The Board of Directors shall, at the commencement of each season, fix the dues of each club according to the estimated expenses of the season's operations, and forthwith give notice thereof to member clubs.

PAYMENT OF ASSESSMENT
40. Payment of assessments (dues) shall be made by May 1st. Any team for which its club fails to pay such assessment by May 1st shall not participate in any League match unless assessment is paid. In the event for a league match not being played on this account, the points for a win shall be awarded to the team that is in good standing. The enforcement of this clause shall be at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

UMPIRES
41. Wherever possible neutral umpires will be appointed by the Board of Directors. If Neutral umpires are not available, the clubs playing the match will try to nominate `Dedicated` umpires who shall stand in the entire match.

CONTINGENCY
42. Should any contingency arise which is not provided for by these bylaws, the Board of Directors is hereby empowered to deal with the same at its discretion.

AMENDMENT TO BYLAWS
43. The bylaws shall not be amended except at the Annual General Meeting or at an extraordinary general meeting called for that purpose. Every resolution to amend the bylaws shall, be approved by the Board of directors. No such resolution shall be passed unless the same is carried by at least a 3/4ths vote of the quorum.

45. A copy of the resolution to amend the Bylaws of the Northwest Cricket League shall be sent by the Secretary along with the notices calling the meeting at which time the same is to be proposed.

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CODE OF CONDUCT

The captains are responsible at all times for ensuring that play is conducted within the spirit of the game as well as within the Laws. Players and Team Officials shall not at anytime engage in conduct unbecoming to a player or Team Official which could bring the game into disrepute.

Players and Team Officials must at all times accept the Umpire's decision. Players must not show dissent at the Umpire's decision. Players and Team Officials shall not intimidate, assault or attempt to intimidate or assault an Umpire, another Player or Spectator. Players and Team Officials shall not use crude or abusive language (known as sledging) nor make any offensive gestures, nor appeal excessively.

Players and Team Officials shall not make any public pronouncement or comment which is detrimental to the game in question.

Players, Team Officials and spectators are expected to adhere to established laws for the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public. The Captains are responsible that their players wear appropriate cricket attire for all games.