Manly Warringah rewarded with national Spirit of Cricket award

A club-wide commitment to upholding the spirit of cricket has earned the Manly Warringah cricket club Cricket Australia's national Spirit of Cricket monthly award for January.

Designed to promote fair play at all levels of men's and women's Australian cricket, the national award is part of Cricket Australia's broader Spirit of Cricket project, and is issued to the club or side which best displays a commitment to upholding the game's true spirit, traditions and values.

A Cricket Australia panel of judges this week selected the Manly Warringah Club after considering nominations from four state associations.

Manly Warringah compete in Sydney's Grade competition and earned Cricket New South Wales' nomination after demonstrating a club-wide commitment to fair play.

The club leads Sydney's grade Spirit of Cricket award and after 40 matches over seven grades, averages a spirit of cricket mark of 2.55 per game. In 31 of these matches, the club has earned the highest possible rating (three) for `exceptional behaviour which exemplifies the true spirit, traditions and values of the game'.

All players are required to observe the club's strict no-sledging policy, which has been in place for two seasons. Based on the Cricket New South Wales Code of Conduct, the unwritten policy bans criticism of players and umpires, but doesn't exclude discussion, humour and banter between players.

As the monthly winner of the national Spirit of Cricket award, Manly Warringah will receive an autographed bat signed by members of the Australian cricket team.

Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said Manly Warringah's club-wide pledge to play within the spirit of the game was an admirable example.

"Since this award's inception, we have been particularly impressed by the number of clubs who have embraced the spirit of cricket," Mr Sutherland said.

"While all of January's nominees are worthy of winning, Manly Warringah's sustained commitment to fair play and the consistently outstanding ratings given to them by umpires makes them stand out.

"The spirit in which the game is played is just as important as achieving success, whether it is in the schoolyard, the local suburban oval or at an international level," said Mr Sutherland.

The other nominations for the National Spirit of Cricket award included:

In an A-Grade match against Southern District, Sturt wicket keeper Todd Ferguson took a catch diving forward and Southern District opening batsman and Redback player Shane Deitz was given out.

Ferguson wasn't confident that the ball carried and subsequently recalled the batsman.

Glenorchy Cricket Club 1st Grade captain Vaughan Williams requested an LBW decision on Clarence opener Scott Mason be reversed, as he believed Mason had hit the ball prior to it striking his pad.

The umpire complied with his request and Scott Mason continued to bat.

In a 4th grade Cricket Victoria Premier cricket match between Richmond and Footscray Victoria University, the Richmond captain allowed Footscray to replace a nominated player who was injured during the warm up after the toss, even though under the Laws of Cricket he did not have to agree to such a change.