Management Committee Statement - Bootle v NLW 18 April

Date: 23rd April 2026

Rule 7.1.1.1 Suspended

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE STATEMENT

FIRWOOD BOOTLE v NEWTON LE WILLOWS (Ray Digman Cup) Saturday 18 April 2026

On the day after the above match, it was brought to the League’s attention by more than one club that Firwood Bootle CC, who won the match, may have been in breach of one of the L&DCC’s Playing Regulations, namely PR 7.1.1.1 :

7.1.1.1 Each nominated team in each 1st XI match must field at least nine players qualified to play for England and may contain no more than one non-resident Overseas Player, i.e. who is not eligible to play for England and who does not satisfy the criteria for 'Overseas Player resident in England'.

Upon investigation it was established that Firwood Bootle’s XI included one correctly registered Category 3 Overseas

Player plus four additional players who, although born overseas, are all correctly registered as Category 1 Local Players using the “210-day rule” as ordinarily resident in the UK. With full cooperation from Firwood Bootle, it was subsequently established that none of these four players satisfied the current ECB criteria to be qualified to play for England (i.e. British Citizenship plus residency for the 3 preceding years in their cases) and that L&DCC PR 7.1.1.1 had indeed been breached.

Parallel to the above investigation, we also received queries from L&DCC clubs about the provenance and current suitability of PR 7.1.1.1 and in response we have consulted with ECB and other Relevant Cricketing Organisations.

As a result, we have established that:

The current ECB Premier League Criteria do not require clubs in any ECB Premier League to adhere to the provisions set out in L&DCC PR 7.1.1.1;
the 2026 League ECB Accreditation Criteria document that governs our League makes no reference to players being qualified to play for England;
ECB National Competition rules allow Category 1 “210-day rule” players to play in 1^st XIs without restrictions;
a sample search of six Premier League websites shows no reference to players needing to be qualified to play for England in any of their rules. Phone contact with three other ECB Premier Leagues has revealed this has never been a requirement to the best of anyone’s recollection.

We have established that the inclusion of PR 7.1.1.1 dates to 2006/2007 but its origin remains unclear. In particular, we are satisfied that it was not introduced by a proposal from member clubs. It has remained in the Playing Regs unchallenged and rarely referenced. Since that time, migration patterns, UK visa requirements and the regulation of registering overseas cricketers have seen many changes including, as examples:

ECB assuming sole responsibility, previously shared with the League Cricket Conference, for regulating player registrations in the recreational game;
a reduction in the residency requirement for England qualification from seven years to three years;
the introduction of the Category 3 (Exempt) registration reducing the residency requirement to 18 months;
the disapplication of the Kolpak ruling when the UK left the EU in 2020;
in 2022, a move away from the Category 3 (Exempt) status and introduction of the “210-day rule” allowing overseas-born players to qualify to be selected as Category 1 players.

Within this context it has become clear that the Liverpool Competition has been a complete outlier in having any mention of being qualified to play for England in its Playing Regulations. How and why this irregular rule has come into being we genuinely cannot account for but, in good faith, we believe that the combination of many factors, including those listed above plus changes in Management Committee personnel (particularly in the years around and following 2006/2007), have contributed to the position.

It has also now become clear that L&DCCC PR 7.1.1.1 does not align with the current ECB system for player registration in the recreational game, in particular the Category 1 “210-day rule” introduced in 2022.

This does not, however, change the fact that PR 7.1.1.1 was part of the Playing Regulations on Saturday 18^th April.

An Emergency Meeting of the Management Committee was held on Tuesday 21 April

All of the above was discussed in detail. The Management Committee accepts that we are responsible for a lack of effective governance on this issue and apologises to all of our clubs. The following decisions have been taken:

In the match on 18 April Firwood Bootle CC were in breach of L&DCC Playing Regulation 7.1.1.1 in force on the day of the match in that they included three ineligible players in their team. The result of the game is reversed, Newton Le Willows CC wins by default and will progress to the next round of the Ray Digman Cup.
After a full consideration of the facts established during the past two days, and with specific knowledge that the ECB have no criteria that reference players being qualified to play for England, it has been decided to suspend the application of L&DCC PR 7.1.1.1 with immediate effect (Wed 22^nd April 2026) and until the matter can be considered by clubs at a General Meeting. The End of Season SGM is scheduled for Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Management Committee

22/04/2026