SCL Season 3 — Official Rule Book

Section-C Cricket League · Season 3 · Official Rules & Regulations · V7.0

This rule book is the binding document for all teams, players, and managers. It is supplemented by three operational guides: the Vault Guide, the Wagers Guide, and the Economy Guide. Where the platform and this document disagree, the platform is the source of truth for mechanics; this document is the source of truth for rules.

1. League Overview & Tournament Format

1.1 League nature

• SCL is a casual, amateur league played on a small hard surface (basketball court)

utilizing short-format, tape-ball rules. - It operates on a persistent, "video-game style" virtual economy where player identities, career statistics, and virtual wallets carry over across seasons. - Real-world cash is strictly not involved.

1.2 The participants

• Player: every participant is designated as a Player with a persistent identity.
• Manager: a manager is a player who actively plays for and runs a team. The

manager's wallet functions as the team's total capital — there is no separate team purse. - Admin / Committee: league organizers who process all financial adjustments with mandatory audit comments. - Anyone (player or manager) can propose and bet on wagers.

1.3 Tournament structure (Season 3)

• 12-match Double Round Robin — 4 teams, every team plays every other team twice.
• No final. The team that tops the table after all 12 matches is declared the

outright League Champion.

1.4 Standings & tie-breakers

Tie-breakers are resolved in the following order: 1. Net Run Rate (NRR) 2. Head-to-head record between the tied teams 3. Total boundaries scored across the season

2. Squad Composition & Substitutions

2.1 Relegation system

• The team finishing at the bottom of the table is relegated.
• The Fantasy League system has been abolished; the replacement manager for the

relegated team will be chosen directly by the Administration.

2.2 Team persistence

• Teams and their branding (name, logo, banner, about text) are persistent across

seasons. A team sitting out a season remains in existence and is managed from its owner's account. - Team branding. Every team has a logo and a wide banner. The manager uploads both from their account page; the committee can also set or replace them from the admin panel. When a team has no logo or banner of its own, the official SCL brand is shown by default — so the league always looks consistent:

The official SCL wide banner — the default shown on a team page until the team uploads its own.

The official SCL logo mark — the default team logo until the team uploads its own.

2.3 Squad size

• Each team fields a match-day roster of 4 active players. This includes the

manager (acting as a player) plus 3 players purchased at auction. - All participants are eligible to bat and bowl; there are no specialist-only roles.

2.4 Substitutions & eligibility

• Substitutions are strictly reserved for teams missing players. Any team with 4 or

more available players is ineligible to select a substitute. - If a team has fewer than 4 available players, they may draft a substitute from a team not currently playing.

2.5 Substitution tier downgrades

Substitutes must adhere to strict tier downgrades based on the missing player: - Missing Platinum must be replaced by a Gold. - Missing Gold must be replaced by a Silver. - Missing Silver must be replaced by a Silver.

2.6 Substitution pricing

• The substitution release clause is **25% of the replacement player's original auction

value**. - Substitute prices can be negotiated further between the managers.

2.7 Auction exclusivity

• Players sold outside the auction cannot be substituted.

2.8 Failure to substitute

• If a team with fewer than 4 available players fails to secure a required substitute,

they will be penalized with a 1,000 fine.

3. In-Game Match Play Rules

3.1 Match duration & scoring

• Matches consist of 3 overs per innings. All overs are standard six-ball overs.
• Wides and no-balls must be rebowled.
• Every ball is scored ball-by-ball by an official scorer.

3.2 Bowling & fielding limits

• A strict 1-1-1 over limit applies per bowler (each bowler may bowl a maximum

of 1 over per innings). - During the first over (Powerplay), exactly 2 fielders must be positioned inside the bowling crease line.

3.3 Boundaries

• Standard boundaries apply for straight hits.
• Side boundaries (Leg/Off-side) struck out of the ground are strictly restricted

to 1 run.

3.4 No-run ball rules

• No runs can be scored through running between the wickets if the ball doesn't touch

the bat.

3.5 Run-out rule

• The non-striker and the striker both can be run out even if the ball doesn't touch

the bat.

3.6 Overthrow policy

• No boundary on overthrows — only runs accumulated by running between the wickets

will count.

3.7 Corner gate protocol

• For the gates on the corners of the court (on the striker's end), if the ball goes

out only one run will be awarded if the batsmen ran zero runs or took a single. - If zero runs were run between the wickets, the strike will not be rotated. - If the batsmen run more than one run before the ball goes out, all runs will be counted.

3.8 Field obstruction

• On field obstruction by outsiders, the umpire's judgement (based on whether the ball

would have reached the boundary or whether a fielder would have fielded it) will be recorded as the official decision. - The umpire can give a boundary (either a 6 or a 4). - In case the umpire's judgement is that a boundary was not probable, only runs scored by running between the wickets will be granted to the batting team.

3.9 Boundary definition (obstacles)

• Gates, goals, basketball rings etc. touching the boundary or placed very close to

the boundary will be considered a part of the boundary. - Shots gone out through the gate on the off side will be considered a boundary.

3.10 Wall bounce rule

• A shot bouncing off the side walls then reaching the boundary will be considered a

4 even if the ball never touches the ground.

3.11 Side-ground exit

• Shots gone outside the ground through the sides of the court first will be awarded

a single run without strike rotation regardless of whether the shot would have cleared the straight boundary later.

3.12 Batting regulations

• No crossing is permitted; strike changes occur only via completed runs.
• There is no "Last Man Standing" rule — the innings terminates immediately when 3

wickets fall or the allotted overs are completed.

3.13 Ball choice & retrieval protocol

• All matches are played with rubber-cock balls.
• The batting side is strictly responsible for ball retrieval and must station two

personnel at the gates. - If a ball is lost due to negligence (failure to station gatekeepers or failure to immediately retrieve it), the batting team must pay 300 to replace the ball and will incur a 1,000 fine. - Bringing replacement balls from side courts is a reward of 300 per ball.

4. Draft, Contracts & Transfers

4.1 Draft structure

• The auction is conducted tier by tier in the following strict order: **Platinum,

then Gold, then Silver**. - Managers represent their own team's slot and are never auctioned.

4.2 Base prices & credits

• Each team is allocated 8 draft credits.
• Winning a Platinum/Gold/Silver player costs 3/2/1 credits respectively.
• Unused credits are refunded at 1,000 each at the end of the draft.

4.3 Incomplete squads

• If a manager is unable to complete their 4-player roster during the auction, they

will be granted a designated period to negotiate trades with other managers. - If still unsuccessful, the Administration will seize control of the team and execute trades to finalize the squad.

4.4 Admin leveling

• At their discretion, admins may gift weaker managers extra funds before the auction

to level the playing field (recorded with an audit comment).

4.5 Transfer windows

Player transfers and mutual contracts are valid only if registered with the Administration and are restricted exclusively to two phases: 1. Pre-season: From the conclusion of the draft until the first match is played. 2. Mid-season: After the 6th match concludes, until the start of the 7th match.

4.6 Transfer tier constraints

Player transfers are permitted with a maximum difference of one tier: - Platinum players may be traded for Platinum or Gold players. - Gold players may be traded for Platinum, Gold, or Silver players. - Silver players may be traded for Gold or Silver players.

5. Forfeits & Walkovers

5.1 Strict prohibition

• Walkovers (forfeiting a match by failing to appear, failing to field a team after

exhausting substitution options, or refusing to play) are strictly prohibited as they disrupt the season schedule and the league's match-by-match economy.

5.2 Match result & standings

• The forfeiting team automatically registers a Loss (0 points) and incurs a severe

Net Run Rate (NRR) penalty (calculated as if they batted their full overs and scored 0). - The non-offending team is awarded a default Win (2 points).

5.3 Financial penalty

• The Manager of the forfeiting team will be penalized with a fine of 2,000

deducted directly from their liquid cash.

5.4 Credit withholding

• All active players on the forfeiting team are stripped of their **250 per-match

credit** for that specific fixture. - The non-offending team and the rest of the league will receive their match credits as normal.

5.5 Kela Protocol trigger

• Conceding a walkover is considered a primary example of severe managerial negligence

and gives the Administration immediate grounds to trigger the Kela Protocol.

6. The Economy & Virtual Currency

6.1 Wallet structure

• Every player utilizes a single wallet divided into Liquid Cash (spendable for

auctions, wagers, trades, vault locks) and Locked Capital (funds secured in the Vault).

6.2 Season 3 funding

• The universal 10,000 pre-auction cash injection from Season 2 will not be

repeated. - Teams will operate strictly on carry-over wallets.

6.3 Match credit

• A standard credit of 250 is paid to EVERY player in the league following each

finalized match. - This serves as the economy's heartbeat, rewarding the entire league regardless of who played in the fixture.

6.4 Squad-cost levy

• Upon draft conclusion, the average squad cost (total auction spend divided by the

number of active teams) is calculated and deducted from the wallets of any teams that recorded zero expenditure during the auction.

6.5 Sponsored posts

• Managers may pay 200 from their liquid cash to sponsor a match announcement or

promotional post (trash talk permitted per the code of conduct).

7. The Vault

7.1 Yield & terms

• Players may lock Liquid Cash into the Vault to earn a **7% yield per finalized

match**, strictly capped at the total number of matches in the season (12).

7.2 Restrictions

• Limited to one vault position per player, per season.
• Locked principal is untouchable until the season ends (after Match 12); emergency

withdrawals are entirely prohibited.

7.3 Operational modes (switchable anytime)

• Compounding: Yield is automatically reinvested into the principal balance.
• Manual Harvest: The 7% yield is paid exclusively on the original principal and

deposited directly into Liquid Cash.

7.4 Auto mode

• The default for new/unlinked accounts.
• The league automatically sweeps liquid balances into the vault immediately prior to

each yield release so funds earn interest, keeping cash spendable for wagers as long as possible. - Accounts linked to a player run manual by default but can be toggled to auto by admins. - Auto accounts can still stake wagers.

8. Wagers (Prediction Markets)

8.1 Market structure

• Any participant may propose a binary (Yes/No) outcome query on a match and stake the

initial capital from Liquid Cash.

8.2 Odds calibration

• The Administration calibrates the market by providing blind probability estimates; the

average becomes the official market probability. - Fair odds are calculated as: Fair Odds = 100 ÷ Probability. - Sides are independent, and odds do not shift to balance pools.

8.3 Payout procedures & House rake

• Winners ALWAYS receive their stake multiplied by fair odds.
• The House (which has an unlimited bankroll) covers any financial shortfall

automatically. - Surplus funds in the losing pool post-payout are retained by the House as a rake. - Should a winning outcome receive zero bets, the market terminates, and the House retains the aggregate pot (no refunds).

8.4 Integrity & veto power

• Markets are voided (100% refund) for ambiguous or impossible conditions.
• Admins may financially veto any wager that threatens a club's fiscal viability to

enter the next draft. - Match-fixing carries zero tolerance, and markets may be frozen mid-event if integrity is compromised.

9. Review System & Umpiring

9.1 The Anti-Kela Protocol (Technical Review)

To prevent on-field disputes, teams are granted 1 Technical Review per match to consult the "Bench": - If the Umpire's decision is NOT overturned, the review is expended. - If the decision IS overturned, the review is saved, and the umpiring manager is penalized with a 250 fine deducted directly from their match reward.

9.2 Umpiring quotas & rewards

• Every team must volunteer to umpire a minimum of 3 matches during the season.
• Missing this quota results in a 1,500 fine charged at the end of the season.
• Managers receive a reward of 500 for every match a player from their team

umpires.

10. Disciplinary Code & Penalties

Unforeseen scenarios

• For any situations or scenarios not explicitly covered by this rulebook, the

Administration will decide the appropriate action for the situation and formally add the ruling to the rulebook.

The Kela Protocol

• For repeated violations, extensive disputes, or severe managerial negligence, the

Administration retains the absolute authority to strip a Manager of their team authority and transfer operational control directly to the team's active players.

Section-C Cricket League · Season 3 · Official Documentation · August 2026