	See girls' page for U13 softball rules

1.	Teams shall comprise of eight players.
2.	Each match shall be of sixteen overs per side.
3.	Scoring will be as for normal cricket. Batsmen must leave the field when they are out.
4.	The innings shall close when the batting side has lost seven wickets, or sixteen overs have been completed, whichever comes first.
5.	Wides and no balls shall count as two runs to the batting side and will not be bowled again, except in the last two overs. Note that two runs are still awarded, as well as the extra ball, in these final two overs.
6.	No player may bowl more than 3 overs.
7.	The wicket keeper may not be changed, or bowl, during the innings.
8.	The team with the highest number of runs shall be the winners.
9.	Points shall be awarded as detailed in the table below.
10.	In the case of no result games because of the weather, at least one extra date must be offered by the home side. If this subsequent game is also not possible because of rain or waterlogged grounds, 7 points will be awarded to each team.
11.	Players must be U17, U15, U13 or U11 on 31st August 2009 (see guidance notes for clarification).

Winning Margin	Winners' Points	Losers' Points
60+ runs or 7 wickets	16	0
50-59 runs or 6 wickets	15	1
40-49 runs or 5 wickets	14	2
30-39 runs or 4 wickets	13	3
20-29 runs or 3 wickets	12	4
10-19 runs or 2 wickets	11	5
1-9 runs or 1 wicket	10	6
Tied match	8	8

Before submitting a team for entry in any of these competitions, team managers should be aware of the general guidance regarding participating players.

The South Norfolk U11, U13, U15 and U17 Community Leagues are designed to cater for smaller community based clubs and, where appropriate, large clubs that have too many members for their needs of regular league cricket to be adequately accommodated.

The spirit of this competition is to provide league cricket for youth players who would otherwise be denied this opportunity, either because they play in a large club where team places are limited, or because they belong to a small club not yet strong enough for alliance competition.

Where a club is fielding a team in an alliance league, they should have sufficient team members to avoid excessive duplication in their community side.

This competition is primarily intended for community based and smaller clubs or A teams from larger clubs. Elite players, or those who represent Norfolk at county level, will not be expected to play in these games.

League	Boys born on or after	Girls born on or after
U17	1st September 1992	1st September 1990
U15	1st September 1994	1st September 1992
U13	1st September 1996	1st September 1994
U11	1st September 1998	1st September 1996

For U15 and U17 games, the matches are to be played with an adult ball, 5½ozs, on a full sized pitch of 22 yards. For U13 games the ball should be 4¾ ounces and the pitch 21 yards. For U11 games the ball should be 4¾ ounces and the pitch 20 yards. Full sized stumps may be used at all age groups. For guidance regarding U13 girls' softball league see girls' page.

The home team is responsible for providing a ball (ideally new, but at least in good condition and acceptable to both team captains) for each game, this to be used for both innings.

Each team should provide an umpire and scorer for each match.

It is intended that whites should be worn for these matches.

The home team manager is responsible for submitting the result within 24 hours of the match. This should be done on the website results form.

The rules of the competition must be adhered to. Games are not to be longer than sixteen overs.

Managers, team players, parents etc. are welcome to submit match reports, photographs, blogs etc. to the website. These will be considered for publication in the news section. Photographs must be accompanied by a disclosure from the team manager that those pictured have consented to the use of their image.

The competition’s dedicated website will be updated regularly. Please ensure that your teams are aware of this site.

Youth managers of the home team must arrange their fixture within the allocated time window. If the fixture is held over by the mutual agreement of both teams and, for whatever reason, eventually not completed, NO POINTS will be awarded to either team.

Home teams that are unable to offer a fixture within the time window will forfeit the game and have 10 points deducted from their total. 10 points will be awarded to their opponents.

If games are cancelled because of bad weather, the home side must offer at least one further acceptable date for the fixture. If this is also curtailed by inclement weather, a tie may be agreed and the points shared between the teams (7 points each).

If matches, which have started, become rain affected, team managers and captains may, at their discretion, agree a procedure to produce a fair result. The league has its own Duckworth-Lewis calculations for abandoned games but 8 overs must have been completed in the second innings before this may be used.

Teams cancelling, or failing to fulfil a fixture for reasons other than the weather, will have 10 points deducted from their total and 10 points will be awarded to their opponents.