Three new ING Cup playing conditions, regional venues for Pura Cup matches and new Spirit of Cricket awards were the highlights of today’s Australian domestic season launch in Melbourne.
Cricket Australia14-Oct-2003Three new ING Cup playing conditions, regional venues for Pura Cup matches and new Spirit of Cricket awards were the highlights of today’s Australian domestic season launch in Melbourne.The Spirit of Cricket awards, announced as part of the Spirit of Cricket launch on 7 October, seek to reward teams that display the true spirit and traditional values associated with cricket.Umpires will assign points to each team at the end of Pura Cup and ING Cup matches based on the conduct of all team members. The point scale ranges from three points (exceptionally good behaviour) to minus one point (unacceptable behaviour). An annual award will be presented to the team with the most points.Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said the awards, the other initiatives for the year, and Australia’s depth of talent, augured well for an exciting domestic season ahead."The world’s strongest domestic competitions exist in our own backyard," said Mr Sutherland."It’s no mystery that both the Pura Cup and ING Cup competitions are the feeder systems which help produce our national players."Australia’s international success over the past few years and 12 months in particular, in winning an eighth consecutive Ashes series, retaining the Frank Worrell trophy, and claiming a record third World Cup title, highlight the important role that the Pura Cup and ING Cup competitions play."This season’s Pura Cup, beginning in Perth on Sunday, sees a return of first-class matches to the Junction Oval in Melbourne and the Newcastle Sports Ground, which last season hosted a crowd of more than 16,000 for New South Wales’ match against Western Australia.Last year the Pura Cup experienced its highest season-crowd since National Foods commenced its sponsorship of the event in 1999, with 106,660 people attending first-class matches in 2002-03.The ING Cup also welcomed record crowds last season with 146,646 turning out to see the limited-over competition, including 25,000 at Telstra Stadium for the match between the Blues and the Redbacks last February.The 2003-04 ING Cup, which begins on 24 October with a day-night fixture between the Warriors and the Redbacks in Perth, sees three new innovative playing conditions included for this season:
- Extra Bonus Point – an extra bonus point will be awarded to a team who doubles the run rate of its opposition;
- Free Hit – a free hit will be awarded to a batsman following a foot-fault no-ball. The free hit will be the next delivery to whichever batsman is facing. The striker can only be dismissed in the same circumstances that apply for a no-ball. The free hit must be a legitimate delivery (a wide or no-ball does not count);
- 11 players per team – the number of players in each team will change back from 12 to 11 players per side.






