02. Team Shirts

CURRENT STATUS
QSDCA Management Committee declined to support this (June 2018).

ABM 25-June-2018

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DISCUSSION
Something may need a tweak with the Team shirt regs... maybe to specify some steps to get them approved (e.g. make it clear that clubs must submit a prior photo/application to the Man-Com) and maybe deduct points when players don't wear 'em... or when players wear unapproved shirts.

There seems to be some casualness about following shirt regulations.

One complaint this season was about red shirts in a Sunday match which were approved in a way that I don't fully understand. Without giving away the identities of the teams involved the complaint was about bright red shirts against a red ball with no sightscreens and dull daylight making the game hard to play for batsmen. But the shirts were approved.... by whom, when and how.. questions I cannot answer and I type the association minutes and file all the written correspondence.

• Some teams seem to be a little slack about submitting their team shirts for Management Committee approval.

• Some don't make sure all players on the field wear the shirt as a uniform. (There's often an excuse about 'he's just filling in this week".)

•  Some allow the odd one or two players to wear an odd shirt with big numbers or logos or a team shirt from some other team they have played with in the past.

Is the problem that teams aren't caring enough?  Do they need some motivation to follow clothing and team shirt rules?

So perhaps we should provide some?

Will it be carrot or stick?
 🥕 Umpires to approve 1 team bonus point for teams with perfect clothing at matches? (This is a bit arbitrary and open to corruption.)

🏑 Or 0.1 point penalty for each player in the wrong shirt? (Might cause some bad feeling.)

Then what about Fourex hats, black socks, grubby trousers, fluoro coloured shoes?

What if we give up and let people play in thongs, board shorts  and bluey singlets? (That's worse than the grubby trousers and Fourex hats...)

What exactly do we want for our cricket matches?
Do we want to project some kind of traditional, pickled in aspic image of old fashioned whites and creams?
Do we want to attract young people with smart looking, colourful uniforms like on TV?
Do we want people to think we're a bunch of untidy slobs who don't seem to care very much?
Do we want to exclude players who would otherwise not be able to play due to clothing costs?
Do we want to attract derision for maniacally clinging to irrelevant, outdated clothing standards which everyone else has disregarded long ago?


So here's some ideas:

• Make it clear that teams must wear all white shirts and trousers with white socks and mostly white shoes.
• Introduce an umpires report for clothing standards (perhaps another question on the Umpires Spirit of Cricket report form)
• Introduce some kind of fine/penalty/loss of points system for breaches.
• Take action against some teams to emphasise the seriousness of this.
• Team shirts are allowed is preapproved. ManCom requires submission of a photo/diagram prior. This will be filed (somewhere) and displayed on a team website (for reference and display) Approval will require renewal each season.
• Teams who play in a Team shirt without valid Mancom approval will be reported and penalised. (How to do this at non-offical umpired matches?) (Sigh)
• Define some standard Team shirts (or just list some features) which meet ManCom approval? Pictures for instance.

 ABM 3-Mar-2018