1 Copyright Greg Smith, 48 Holmes Street, Turramurra 19 December 2015 INNOVATION PATENT APPLICATION DOCUMENT No. 1 of 3 DOCUMENTS PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION TITLE: PITCH AND BOWL This Invention (Including my early Draft Rules for the game) Is Described In The Following Statement Note. Document No. 2 is the Diagram of Field Rotations (there is one diagram on one page) Document No. 3 shows the "Claims" for this Innovation Patent Application (commences with a new page) 1. My aim with PITCH AND BOWL is to create a bat and ball game that improves the opportunities for the majority of players in a team to exert their bodies and brains more in batting, pitching, bowling, wicket-keeping and fielding. It will lead to the greater use of improved protective equipment. It will also require the use of a specified time frame for the conduct of the game. Moreover, it will lead to more people throwing and catching, with the aid of a catching mitt, hard balls used in cricket and baseball, as a more commonly practised general leisure activity. 2. I have also noticed that for all fielders other than the wicket-keeper the catching of very firmly hit cricket balls can cause considerable pain and at times serious damage to the hand and or fingers. For this reason baseball mitts can be used by any fielding side by any of the players at any time in PITCH AND BOWL. 3. Furthermore, I have seen a problem with cricket being played by generally untrained players or long retired from the game players where there is a tendency for them to be far less involved than those who are the best trained and most experienced in the game. 4. It may also provide a means for foreign baseball players in Australia to display their talents in this country while here. Additionally, it could be played by cohorts of people who have had only some experience as children in ball games, or possibly as players in the lowest school and or club grade/grades of cricket/softball/baseball. It may be a game to be enjoyed by some more elderly people and younger children, most of whom may otherwise not play any team sports. Draft Rules 5. These are my DRAFT rules for PITCH AND BOWL BALL. Trials need to be conducted and these rules need to be further developed. To run the trials I need to advertise these rules which I intend to do.
2 Copyright Greg Smith, 48 Holmes Street, Turramurra 19 December 2015 Players. There are to be 12 players for each side. One of the 12 players is to be called the 1 2 th player. The twelve players in a team are to be grouped in six pairs. Each of the six pairs will bat in Greg's P&BB as a pair. When one of the pair is 'out' then the pair leaves the field and the next pair comes out to replace them. The 1 2 th player for the team does not field. However, as in cricket the 1 2 th player is an attendant to the other 11 fielding players. The 1 1 th Player. The team when fielding will only put 11 players on the field as is done in cricket. The team's 1 1 th player, when fielding, will be the only player not included in a pair. The 1 1 th player fields anywhere on the field while his or her team are the fielding team. Team Officials. The team is responsible to provide for a game an additional two people. These two people will fill the roles of being one of the two Umpires and one of the two Scorers for the game. The team's Captain can swap these two people, as 'a pair', with the 1 1 th and 1 2 th player pair, at any time. For the Captain of the team to swap them with any other pair that is higher in the team's pairs order the Captain of the opposing team must agree to the swap. Also, when an injury occurs to a player in a pair, and that pair (including the fit player in the pair) is forced to retire from the game, the opposing team's Captain can decide that the swap with the Umpire and Scorer (as the team's first reserve 'pair') is to be compulsory. The Captain of the opposing team also has the right if asked by a team to agree to any swap of any injured individual player in a pair by one or the other of the 1 1 th or 1 2 th players. If he or she agrees to this then a swap of the team pair with the umpire and scorer pair might be avoided. Equipment. Bats are cricket bats. Balls are cricket balls. The different types of cricket balls may be used depending on the level of the competition. All fielders can wear a baseball fielder's mit if they choose to and if not worn it must be carried with them (usually in a small light-weight back-pack with frame) or it can be carried by another team member. A wicket keeper can wear wicket keeper gloves, a baseball fielders mit or a baseball home base catchers mit, if they choose to, and must also carry it with them or it must be carried by another team member. Helmets might be required for all players for the whole game depending on the level. All cricket, baseball and/or ice hockey protective equipment is to be subject to checking by the umpires and some gear may be deemed to be un-safe. Equipment on The Playing Field. No player's equipment is to be left on the playing field for more than 30 seconds and if it is left on the ground for more than 30 seconds or, if it is touched by a ball that is hit by a batsman while the equipment is on the ground, in that half a minute, 4 runs will be automatically awarded to the batting team. Helmets, Cricket Batting Pads, Thigh Pads, Boxes and Other Sport Alternatives. The threat assessments for being struck by a cricket ball will be different for the different levels that Greg's P&BB will be played. It is envisaged that for the most common level of play a: lightest weight as possible, with protection for 3 Copyright Greg Smith, 48 Holmes Street, Turramurra 19 December 2015 the back of the neck, and designed for specific type of ball to be used (and for the speed of that ball strike) for batting and close fielding-compulsory individual's, carried or worn, helmet will be developed. A cricket box and thighs pads concept of lightweight and highly breathable material might also be developed and could also become compulsory as individually worn protection for players for the whole game. Prior to these developments various forms of protective equipment (including from ice hockey and American football) exist that can serve as effective individual player protection (depending on the ball being used) while allowing for a quick change over of teams from their fielding to batting and batting to fielding roles. Aim. The aim of both teams is to score more runs than their opponents before the game ends. The game might be agreed before the day of the game to last for two and half hours. Games should not be agreed to last for more than four hours. Either team may concede defeat at any time during the time designated for the match. [This is just one relatively simple option regarding an Aim. There are likely to be others and this aim needs to be trialled in order to see if there might be a better concept in relation total number of overs, runs scored and winning.] Bowler/Pitcher and Wicketkeeper Alternating For Four Overs Each. After an over of six balls is pitched/bowled the pitcher/bowler goes to the opposite ends of the cricket pitch to bowl the next over (of their four overs). This is to increase the overall speed of the game. Clearly, the field placing will be changed for an over being bowled from a new end, however the rules for pairs to only be positioned in (and from) their allotted sector at the time of the over, does not change. It is up to the Captain and the fielders to adjust the field to suit the type of pitching/bowling and to suit the end from which the pitching/bowling is to occur. There is no time allowed by the umpires for this to occur. When the bowler and wicket keeper have 'briskly' moved to change over their field positions and when they change over the pitcher/bowler and wicket keeper roles they must then commence pitching and bowling. Therefore, unlike normal cricket there is no change of the person doing the pitching or bowling from opposite ends, nor is there a rest between their required four overs. The pitcher/ bowler pitches/bowls his or her four overs and then becomes the wicket keeper for the four overs that are to be pitched or bowled by the other person in the pair. The Eight Overs By Each Player Are To Be Completed. If a third wicket falls during a Pairs eight over session, before the last ball is bowled/pitched the teams change roles and all in the fielding team go to the batting role. When the teams change roles back again, so that the fielding team returns to the fielding role, then the bowler/pitcher and wicketkeeper pair return to the pitch and continue with their eight overs. Batting Teams Three Out-Change Over The Teams Roles. A Batting Pair (that is both players in the pair) are to both be given Out when one of the pair loses either one of their two wickets in accordance with the normal rules of cricket. When 3 Batting Pairs are determined to have been Out the Fieldinq Team is to Change Roles with the Battina Team. That is, the four player pairs that are not due to bat next and the 11 th man jog/run from all positions they have occupied on the field back to the off the field batting team seating. They run to the 3 O'clock fence area (for example) by 4 Copyright Greg Smith, 48 Holmes Street, Turramurra 19 December 2015 the shortest routes across the field of play except that they will be penalised with four runs to the opposing team for anyone running across the pitch between the two wickets. The team that was batting runs/jogs out to their required fielding team positions in accordance with the positioning that is required for the situation. They usually will have some balls left to pitch or bowl for an eight overs pairs 'turn' and will therefore go to the same sector positions before they batted. Or, if the third wicket fell on the last ball of the eight overs then they will be required to occupy their next sectors in the rotation sequence order for fielding. Nomination of the Teams Sequence of Pairs and Compliance With The Requirement to Maintain The Nominated Sequence of Pairs. Before the game the Captains of both teams are to provide the two scorers with their team's Names and The Sequence of Their Pairs. Additionally, in each pair one of the pair is to be nominated as the 'senior' of the pair and the other as the 'junior' of the pair. This nomination applies to the pair in both batting and fielding pair roles. Using the team's nominated sequence of pairs there will be two schedules or rotations being maintained by the umpires. One is to check for the correct locations of the six pairs in the (mostly) clockwise rotation through the four field sectors, the 1 2 th player from the roughly 3 O'clock position and the 1 1 th player from anywhere on the field, and the centre field pitch area where the pitcher/bowler and wicket keeper pair are located, rotate one place further up this pairs schedule line, after every eight overs. The other records the sequence of batting pairs where the six pairs rotate, one place further up this pairs schedule line, after every batting pair dismissal. The Fielding Teams Pairs-Record Of Rotations. The two scorers are to ensure, while observing the playing field and the off the field players, that both teams comply with this rule. The Batting Teams Pairs-Record of Rotations. The two scorers are to ensure, while observing the playing field and the off the field players, that both teams comply with this rule. The Fielding Teams Pairs Rotation-Details. For a Fielding Pairs Rotation the Pitcher/Bowler and Wicket Keeper Pair move to the field's 3 O'clock to 6 O'clock Quarter and the Fielding Pair allocated to this quarter (which will be at the start of the game the 5 th pair) moves clockwise and is then allocated to the 6 O'clock to 9 O'clock quarter. The process applies to the other Fielding Pairs noting that the pair from 12 O'clock to 3 O'clock (which will be the 2 nd pair) move into the two next Centre Field Pitcher/Bowler and Wicket Keeper roles. After the rotations have put the 5 th pair into the centre of field tasks for the final fielding team rotation the 1 2 th player will come onto the field to combine with the 11 th player to deliver their four overs as the 6 th pair. When the 6 th pair has completed their eight overs the 1 st pair will recommence the fielding sequence of pairs taking the centre field roles (pitcher/bowler and wicketkeeper) for their second time. The Length of The Pitch Wicket to Wicket Extended Sector Rule. Paired fielders allocated to a sector my have one or both players for that sector move into the area beyond the middle of the field boundary on the same side of the 12 O'clock to 6 5 Copyright Greg Smith, 48 Holmes Street, Turramurra 19 December 2015 O'clock sector centre line as their allotted sector (left or right to the length of the pitch), but they can field only as far as an imaginary line that runs from the 9 O'clock side of the field to 3 O'clock side of the field and is level with the wicket stumps in their next, to be occupied (in a clockwise direction) sector. An Alternative To the Length of The Pitch (Wicket to Wicket) Extended Sector Rule Might Be To Replace It With The Fielding Team Sectors, One Of A Pair Is Allowed To Field In Either Adjacent Sector Rule And This Applies To All Of The Fielding In Four Sector Pairs-Rule. For both of these extending the areas for fielding rules, the other player of the pair, however, must field in the required sector. This rule allows much greater flexibility in setting fielding positions. For the purpose of easier observation of the fielding rotations both players are required to occupy their required sector until a scorer signals to the umpires that the scorers are satisfied with the rotation that has occurred. The Three Out All Out Team Roles Change-Further Considerations. There is an objective in the design of this game that requires more player speed in achieving what has usually been part of the more routine procedures for the normal game of cricket. This is being done to allow the most cricket possible to be played in the agreed time for the duration of the game. As stated earlier, as soon as the third wicket is indicated to have fallen by an umpire the batting team must move directly into their correct new fielding team positions. Concurrently, the team that was fielding and took the third wicket has to move its next batting pair (from their batting rotation schedule) to the wickets while the rest of their now batting team moves directly to their seating and gear location. In this change of teams situation the next Batting Pair are to be 'safely equipped' for batting and in a position standing on, or touching, with their cricket bat, the: 'Stop At Line For Team Changeovers'. (Any other team member may assist these pairs in carrying and changing equipment and dress if considered necessary. This could be a further function for the team's 1 1 th player.) The other batting pairs must now move directly to outside the field's boundary as defined by-a limit that will be the same for both teams. For example outside the ovals fence line might be determined as this boundary. The new fielding team is to have their correct bowler/pitcher and wicket keeper pair in their positions as quickly as possible and in 'safe' clothing/equipment, which could be for the bowler/pitcher to be without any protective equipment. Or it might include a baseball catchers mit, if the pitcher/bowler wants one. (As a general rule, depending on the level of play-as mentioned, it could evolve that all players may, including pitcher/bowlers need to wear, or always have at hand, their own helmet and other protective equipment, for the whole game.) The wicket keeper must be dressed in 'approved' protective cricket, baseball or other sport equipment that might include: helmet, pads for the legs and the knees and wicket keeper gloves (or home base catchers mit or field catchers mit instead). Once the new bowler/pitcher and wicket keeper are ready and if the new batting pair in their required protective equipment are not standing on or have their bat touching: 'The Stop At Line For Team Changeovers', then the umpire will indicate to the bowler/ 6 Copyright Greg Smith, 48 Holmes Street, Turramurra 19 December 2015 pitcher that he or she may bowl at the unoccupied wicket. If the wicket is hit then the pair is out. (The senior of the pair of batsman is given the pairs 'out', for the record.) 6. This ends the Provisional Specification Document.