Cricket team fines, and the art of the fines meeting
· 7 min read
Cricket has the best fines culture of any sport, because cricket is the only one that gives you a whole afternoon sat in a pavilion watching everybody else commit offences.
The short answer
Cricket team fines typically cover batting dismissals, bowling no balls and wides, dropped catches and clubhouse etiquette, priced from 50p to five pounds. Cricket clubs usually issue them at a fines meeting after the match rather than on the pitch, which is what makes the tradition work so much better than it does in faster sports.
Why cricket does this better than anyone
Everyone is sat down, in the same place, for six hours, watching. Nothing goes unnoticed, and there is plenty of time to decide what it is worth. In football a fine gets decided on a touchline in the rain by whoever is loudest. In cricket it gets decided properly, over a pint, by a room.
That is also why cricket clubs run a fines meeting rather than fining on the spot, and why the tradition survives at clubs where the football equivalent would have fizzled out by June.
Batting fines
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Golden duck | £2 |
| Duck | £1 |
| Run out at the non striker's end | £2 |
| Running out your own partner | £3 |
| Out hit wicket | £3 |
| Out first ball after a drinks break | £1 |
| Out to the worst bowler on the pitch | £2 |
| Reverse sweep dismissal | £3 |
| Reverse sweep dismissal in a losing cause | £5 |
| Leaving a straight one and being bowled | £2 |
| Calling for a run then sending it back | £1 |
| Blaming the umpire on the way off | £2 |
| Padding up and then not being needed | 50p |
| Taking your helmet off to a spinner and getting hit | £2 |
Bowling fines
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Each no ball | 50p |
| Each wide | 50p |
| Beamer | £2 |
| Over of five or more wides | £3 |
| Being taken off after one over | £2 |
| Asking for a sixth slip | £1 |
| Appealing for lbw when it hit the bat | £1 |
| Appealing from mid on | £1 |
| Bowling a wide to your own brother | £1 |
| Celebrating a wicket that was a no ball | £2 |
| Refusing to bowl into the wind | £2 |
| Claiming you bowled a googly on purpose | £1 |
Fielding fines
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Dropped catch | £1 |
| Dropped sitter | £2 |
| Dropped slip catch off the fastest bowler | £3 |
| Misfield through the legs | £1 |
| Throwing to the wrong end | £1 |
| Overthrow for four | £2 |
| Letting one through for four while watching it | £2 |
| Not backing up | £1 |
| Sunglasses on a cloudy day | £1 |
| Hiding at fine leg all innings | £1 |
| Keeper conceding byes off a straight one | £1 |
| Any fielder on their phone | £3 |
Clubhouse and tea fines
The clubhouse offences are where a cricket fines list earns its character, and they tend to be the ones people remember for years.
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Not helping with the covers | £2 |
| Not helping put the nets away | £1 |
| Turning up without whites | £3 |
| Turning up without a box | £2 |
| Borrowing the club box | £5 |
| Leaving your kit in the changing room | £1 |
| Not paying your match fee before the start | £2 |
| Taking the last sandwich at tea | £1 |
| Criticising the tea out loud | £2 |
| Criticising the tea within earshot of whoever made it | £5 |
| Leaving before the opposition | £2 |
| Falling asleep in the pavilion | £1 |
How to run the fines meeting
- Do it after the match, same day, while everybody is still there. Monday never happens.
- One person chairs it and one person writes it down. Those should not be the same person.
- Anybody can nominate. The room decides. The chair settles it if the room cannot.
- Nominate the chair too. A fines meeting with an untouchable chair gets very dull very quickly.
- Keep it to ten minutes. The point is the laugh, not a tribunal.
- Write the total on the board before anyone leaves, so the pot is public.
The one fine not to issue
Nobody gets fined for a genuine injury and nobody gets fined for simply not being good enough. A fines list is for mistakes, lapses and daftness, all of which are chosen. Ability is not chosen, and a club that fines for it loses its worst players first and then its best ones.
Keeping the tally across a season
Cricket seasons are long and a scrap of paper from May is gone by August. Fine Club keeps the rulebook, the running pot and the leaderboard in one place, so the fines meeting becomes a ten minute laugh rather than an archaeology exercise. Free on iOS and Android.
Common questions
What are typical cricket team fines?
Golden ducks, no balls and wides, dropped catches, turning up without whites and criticising the tea. Most clubs price them between 50p and three pounds and issue them at a fines meeting after the match.
What is a cricket fines meeting?
A short session after the match where the squad nominates offences from the day and the room agrees what each one is worth. One person chairs, another writes it down, and the whole thing works best kept to about ten minutes.
How much is a golden duck fine?
Two pounds is the usual going rate, with an ordinary duck at a pound. Some clubs double it for a golden duck in a cup match, which is harsh but traditional.
Should juniors be included in a cricket club fines system?
Not with money. Run a points based version for junior and youth sides instead, so the game and the banter survive without anybody's parents being asked for cash.
Run your fines in the app, not a notes app
Fine Club keeps your rulebook, the pot and the leaderboard in one place, so nobody has to chase a pound by hand. Free on iOS and Android.