Article: Cricket Team fined!

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Cricket Team fined!

The Southampton Travellers Cricket Club has just sent us £550 as proceeds from a quiz night, individual donations, and players fines. To find out more about why their players are being fined, please read on…

The Southampton Travellers Cricket Club has its origins before the Second World War when the original members were a motley collection of commercial travellers and estate agents from the Southampton area. In more recent years the team has relied heavily for its players on students and academic staff from Southampton University currently running two sides in the lower divisions of the Hampshire Cricket League. Three members have been playing since the early/mid nineteen seventies and this rather reflects the make up of the current club which is based on age and immobility rather than youth and cricketing ability.Almost without exception they talk a good game, but few can still play a good game. Any success they do have on the field is due to poor umpiring decisions or a sympathetic opposition.

Fines are normally imposed to generate a beer kitty. The word of the appointed ” fines master” is unchallengeable. Fines are grouped into 3 main categories:

1) Poor on-field performance: dropping catches, getting a duck, running your partner out etc.

2) Acts contrary to the spirit of the game: eg questioning an umpire’s decision, showing dissent, sledging the opposition, not walking when you know a catch has been taken and

3) Anti social behaviour off the pitch: lurid or offensive dress sense, poor personal hygene, telling bad jokes etc. You can also be fined for not doing anything fineable and for failing to pay a fine, so there’s no escape.