A Downloadable version of this guide is available here
Every player for your club must be registered on play cricket, and this document aims to help club administrators and users with the associated processes.
The league recommends that all players have their own play cricket account, this has several advantages for both the player as it adds features to them and for the club admin it reduces the amount of work and the need to collect sensitive personal information to then be added into play cricket. The alternative is “TMP” membership accounts that are created by the club admin on behalf of a new player, we would recommend avoiding these in most situations. There are currently a mix of types in use within the Pyramid. A player (or parent for a child which is discussed later) can create their own play cricket account using the sign-up process on any play cricket site, usually the clubs or the default ECB one:
My club has a new player that needs registering – how should I do that?
The first question to ask any new player joining your club is whether they have a play cricket profile already and if they are or have been registered to a league (this could be another league outside of the Pyramid).
If they have their own play cricket account, they can easily request to join your club, this is done in play cricket and from the “Edit Account” section as below.
they can “ADD MEMBERSHIP” and search for your club which will send a request to the play cricket admins section of your clubs play cricket site. This is the simplest way for you to gain access to their playing record.
If the player does not have their own play cricket account but is currently registered to a club (so a TMP account), then the admin of the club site should request access for the playing record of the player via the Members Database of play cricket admin, and “ADD MEMBER” and search for the player by name and keyword for the club they currently play at.
If the new player has never been registered to a club before and does not have a Play Cricket login, then we suggest you ask them to create their own login rather than adding a “NEW MEMBER” from the admin section. The steps for a new member to create their own account is shown below:
Creating a Senior Account
- Visit https://www.play-cricket.com/ or your clubs play cricket site
- Click on “Sign in” on the top right of the page
- Then click on “Sign Up”
- Register yourself
- Once registered, login using your credentials
- Click on the account icon at the top of the page
- Select “Edit Account”
- Select “ADD MEMBERSHIP” at the bottom of the page below any current memberships you have.
- Search on Clubs in your County and enter at least part of the name of the club and search, you then select the club you want to join and put a reason (e.g. New Member)
- This request will then be sent to the club administrators who will approve the request to join and from there can apply for league registration, which will be as a transfer if currently registered at another club. A transfer request will go to that club admins for approval.
Converting a TMP user to full user in play cricket
If the user has created their own play cricket login and there is a current TMP at the club, when you accept their membership role as a club admin you will get the opportunity to merge the accounts.
- Go to Admin/Day to Day/Members/Member Database
- Search for the player’s surname
- Click the “Match Duplicate” icon next to the
player’s entry which is not the TMP one - On the next page, select “Propose Match” on the player’s TMP entry
Creating a Junior Account
- Visit https://www.play-cricket.com/ or your clubs play cricket site
- Click on “Sign in” on the top right of the page
- Then click on “Sign Up”
- Register yourself (Parent) first
- Once registered, login using your credentials
- Click on the account icon at the top of the page
- Select “Add Junior Account”
- Enter your child’s details
- Select “player” as your child’s involvement.
- Tick the appropriate club you wish them to join if you are already registered or
- Search for the club you wish to join as per the senior instructions, this will send a request to the club administrators
- You will receive a further email to approve when the club administrators apply for league registration.
Adding Photo ID
It is now a requirement for new players and those moving clubs to have a photo stored against their player record within play cricket, it is a user choice whether this picture is visible in their play cricket profile (default is no), however the photo will be visible to club and league administrators in case visual identification is required. This is another reason to encourage all users to have their own play cricket login as this way they can manage and take their own photo rather than this being extra work for club admins. To add the photo to the play cricket profile the simplest method is to use a smart phone and login into play cricket on their phone (this can be the default play cricket site or usually the clubs play cricket site) , the steps are the same on a laptop/pc however when using your phone you get the option to take a photo direct from the camera on the phone as opposed to taking a photo and uploading a file with the photo which is required on a PC and also if the club administrator is doing this for TMP accounts.
On a phone using the 3 horizontal lines in the top right choose your username from the Main Menu, this will show the menu on the left below, you should then select EDIT ACCOUNT, which brings up the MEMBER ACCOUNT box on the right below.
From this if you click on the blue pen, it will bring the box on the left below, this allows you to make your photo visible to others. If you click on “Choose File” it will open the menu shown on the right below, you will get the chance to upload a photo this can either be from a stored image or on a phone you can access the camera and take a photo direct.
The use of photos stored against juniors has been approved from a Safeguarding view and by the ECB Cricket Regulator, as by default the photo is not publicly available.
League Registration and transferring a player
Once a club admin has access to a players records using any of the methods discussed, then they can apply for league registration, the system should be able to detect if the player is currently registered to another club and allows options for transferring which then follows a slightly different workflow. Find the player record within the MEMBERS DATABASE section of Day to Day tasks in play cricket admin using the search box, then click the “Edit Role” pen symbol against the player and this will bring up the ROLES box, from here you click on “League Registered Players” and chose to “Apply” for league registration as a Northern Pyramid Registered Player
This is where you can select if this is a loan and you will also need to assign a Player Category you wish to register them under (see below), you will also be given a chance to supply any information that the Registration Secretary needs to know and then NOMINATE the player.
Player Categories
As part of the league registration the club administrator will be asked what player category they should be registered as, it is vital that club admins understand the different categories as registering a player under the wrong category will mean the player is not correctly registered and will be treated as an unregistered player. Most players will be registered as Category 1 players, however if the player has not been resident in England or Wales for 210 days in the period April 1st to March 31st prior to the season then you should check the wording carefully, players that need to be registered as Category 3 need to follow a separate approval process by the Pyramid Registration team. Category 2 players are very rare.
It is possible that a player can move from being a Category 3 player in one season to being a Category 1 player in the following season, basically if they remain the country over the entire winter for example, clubs should contact the Registration Secretary in this situation so the player category can be updated. Conversely it is possible although very rare for someone registered as a Category 1 player one season to need to be moved to be a Category 3 player for the next season, if they subsequently do not meet the Category 1 criteria. For clarity a British Citizen who goes and plays in for example Australia for the winter and may fail the residency test can still be a Category 1 the following season if they played as an OVERSEAS player in Australia, and not as a HOME (in this case an Australian) player. This means that players with dual nationality can only be a HOME player in one ICC Full member country during a 12-month period.
Deadlines
There are a number of deadlines that clubs should be aware of around registration of players, for a new player that is not currently registered to a league then the deadline is noon on the day of the match, this is the deadline for the nomination rather than approval process, the approval from the registration secretary will come most likely later if the application is close to the deadline. The club does however run the risk of playing an unregistered player if there is an issue with the registration or the player is in fact registered elsewhere.
If a player is transferring from another club, then the deadline for APPROVAL is Weds evening before the weekend the player wishes to play for their new club. So, nominating a transfer on a Weds evening may not give sufficient time for the approval to be fully completed as the club that the player is leaving may need to check internally if there are any outstanding financial or disciplinary issues before approving on play cricket. For this reason, it is usually best for the player wishing to move clubs to discuss with their club they are leaving in plenty of time and help ensure the transfer process is smooth.
Please note that no transfers of players between clubs is allowed after Aug 14th each season, the registration of new players not playing elsewhere is allowed right till the end of the season.
Registration V Eligibility
Please note the subtle difference between registration and eligibility of a player, all players need to be registered, however a player who is registered may not be eligible to play in a game, there are several restrictions in each leagues rules which clubs should be aware of before selecting a player for a particular match.
Dual Registration
Dual registration is when a player is registered in play cricket for more than one club, in this document we are expressly talking about for 2 clubs within the Northern Pyramid play-cricket system, although depending on individual competition rules, dual registration may be allowed, for a player registered in a league outside of the Northern Pyramid to play for a club within the Palace Shield, the Pyramid W&G competition or the Westmorland league. Dual registration is not allowed in the Northern Premier League.
In the Palace Shield a player may only be registered for one club in the competition, the only exception is to enable a junior to play PS junior games at another club when the home club does not have a suitable age group team. In the Women’s & Girls section dual registration is allowed to enable a player to play at a different “Tier” when their home club does not offer that team, so for example they may dual register for Super 8s hardball at their home club and at another club for T20 or 30 over if their home club does not have a team at that level.
Dual registrations are valid season by season and approval must be sought before nominating in play cricket, and then per season using this form. Please allow at least 3 days for this approval.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc1iNDtQUYCAWGv735gPSmYQC_cYk0vlAzEs2hbqmO25DM83w/viewform
Loans
A loan is where a player can play a single game for another club, when the other club is short of players for that fixture, in the Palace Shield competition this is allowed in the Sunday competition and in Division 5 and below on Saturdays (or higher division if a club has just one team). It is also allowed in both the PS Junior and W&G sections when a team does not have enough players to fulfil a fixture, it is not there to allow a team to strengthen for a particular game. Permission is required for loans ahead of the fixture, please allow at least 3 days for this approval.
If a club wishes to loan a player then please use the below form for approval in the Palace Shield, PS Junior competition and the W&G competitions, this step must be done before nominating in play-cricket
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdebPZHaYHjLxkWmCJNlWPa3hBQ06VcMs7gcYoTgyVVPm_Qxg/viewform
The Westmorland league will continue to use the current system for loans (Player Pool).
Accessing a players record in play-cricket
The process in play-cricket is nearly identical for both dual registration and loans. We now use the play-cricket loan system for dual registrations also, it is just the expiry date is set to the end of the season.
Firstly, you need access to the player record in play cricket, if the player has their own play cricket account, then they simply apply to join your club in play cricket.
This is done in play-cricket and from the “Edit Account” section as below.
they can “ADD MEMBERSHIP” and search for your club which will send a request to the play cricket admins section of your clubs play cricket site. This is the simplest way for you to gain access to their playing record.
Alternatively, a club admin may apply to access the players account from their “home club”, this is also the only option if the player has a TMP account at their club.
Request access for the playing record of the player via the Members Database of play cricket admin, and “ADD MEMBER” and search for the player by name and keyword for the club they currently play at.
Nominating a player for Dual Registration / Loan
Once a club has access to the play-cricket record for the player they need to nominate the player in play-cricket admin.
Search for the player record in Members Database and click “Edit Roles” from here you click on “League Registered Players” and chose to “Apply” for league registration as a Northern Pyramid Registered Player. Note you cannot apply unless a photo exists in the player record. These steps above are as detailed for new registrations earlier in an earlier section, the process then differs for a Dual Reg / Loan.
Change the nomination box to say “Loan player” - Yes
If for Dual Registration then you put the expiry date as 30th Sept (end of season)
If for Loan then you put the expiry date as a few days after the game (example Tuesday for a weekend loan, this allows time for the player to show correctly in score cards when checked after the game)
Select the correct Player Category (Category 1 for a non overseas player)
Hit NEXT – to the Transfer page
By default, the transfer box is not ticked – DO NOT select this option, otherwise the player will lose registration at their home club.
Hit NEXT to the Nominate Page
Here you should add a relevant comment as to whether this is a Dual Registration or a Loan and the basis for it, so the Registration Secretary can check it matches the authorisation received.
Dual Reg Example
Loan Example
As well as the need to receive approval ahead of the fixture, the player must also be nominated in play-cricket ahead of the fixture. For last minute nominations, it is acceptable for a club to play someone still waiting for the Registration Secretary to accept in play-cricket, however it should be noted that the risk falls on the club if the persons nomination is not valid and subsequently not approved, the player would then be treated as an un-registered player.
The forms for applying for Dual Registration and for Loans are on the Pyramid Website
https://www.pyramidcricket.co.uk/en/information/forms-downloads
Alternative Methods
For some of the administrative tasks there can be other ways to achieve the same goal, as play cricket admin is a flexible tool. Therefore, you may find an alternative way for you to do the same task.
