THE I'Anson Competition's strict rule on player eligibility is likely to come under close scrutiny at the next ADM, following another inevitable course of action by the management committee which has led to Hindhead losing all their points.

The rule was brought in for good reason – to prevent clubs strengthening their sides at a crucial stage of the season. But clubs are being harshly punished for honest mistakes, often when they themselves have owned up to the offence.

The committee has been consistent over the years – the playing of an ineligible player invariably means the deduction of eight points. Lurgashall, chasing promotion from Division Four, were docked eight points a few weeks ago.

Hapless Hindhead, already second from bottom of Division Two, have unwittingly been serial offenders and the committee, rather than send them into a huge deficit, have merely taken away their hard-earned 20 points.

But sending a club like Hindhead into a hopeless relegation position is not what the committee had in mind when the rule was conceived. Other leagues are more relaxed about eligibility and the time may have come when the I'Anson should revert to a 'transfer deadline' system to prevent clubs bolstering their sides towards the end of a season that runs far longer than other leagues.

Wrecclesham withdraw 2nd XI

It's been a busy time for the management committee and secretary Gill Rooney. They have reluctantly agreed to Wrecclesham, struggling with a chronic player shortage, withdrawing their second team from Division Three, to which they were promoted only last season.

All future fixtures involving Wrecclesham II have been cancelled and all games that have been played or cancelled are declared null and void.

Following the deduction of all their points, Hindhead Cricket Club has issued the following statement:

"We have received a substantial points deduction from the I'Anson as a punishment for fielding one ineligible player for a total of five matches and another ineligible player for one match.

Hindhead point out that they are fully aware of the league rules regarding the fielding of players who have played in different leagues the same season. When the players concerned expressed a wish to play for Hindhead, as they were not getting games for their own club, questions were asked and we were given to understand that they had only played Sunday cricket for their club this season.

Had we been aware that the players had played league cricket for their club this season, we would have sought permission from the I'Anson to field these players, as Hindhead has done so in previous seasons.

While we believe the punishment to be most harsh, we repeat that we fully understand that the rules are absolute and we fully accept the decision and the points deduction.

Hindhead CC apologise to all member clubs for our unwitting mistakes and would like to make it clear that these players were selected in innocence of their full playing records this season.

Furthermore, Hindhead were not seeking to gain any undue advantage in selecting these players in the first instance, only to give young players the opportunity to play senior league cricket and to welcome them to a friendly club."