The Duck Constitution
The Downlanders Duck Constitution
In the year 2001 it was passed by the Chairman that the Duck Constitution should come to be.
The Ducks
- The Mother Duck – An award presented at the After Season Dinner to the player who received the most ducks during the season.
2. The Ugly Duckling – The Orange duckling presented to the player who commits the most outrageous act before, during or after each game. Nominations for this act should be submitted to the Duck Master before the end of the fining session. If there is more than one nomination, the nominations will be put to a vote. All club members are eligible to vote. In the Summer of 2004, the Ugly Duckling, due to some serious abuse, went a pinky purple colour.
- The Coloured Ducklings – The Yellow ducklings are to be worn by any player getting out for naught. If there are more players out for naught than there are coloured ducklings, the ducklings must be worn by the players higher in the batting order. In the summer of 2004, the these ducklings became Yellow, Orange and Blue.
The Duck Master
- The Duck Master is the keeper of the ducks. He must be a regular player of the team and is to be voted into the position by the team. The Duck Master will remain in the role until such time as he stands down or leaves the club or is voted down through a majority vote of no confidence.
- Should the Duck Master not be available to hold “Quack” (The Duck Constitutions term for Court), then “Quack” should overseen by the Treasurer of the Club.
The Duck Committee
1. This will be made up of the following:
The Keeper of the Ducks – The Duck Master
The Chairman of the Club
The Keeper of the Club Allotments
The Keeper of Cricket – The Skipper
The Treasurer
The Fines Master
The Oldest Playing Member of the Club
The Wearing of the Ducklings
1. All ducklings must be worn from when the player turns up to the pitch until he either passes it on or to when he leaves.
2. No duck should be worn while the player is (playing) on the cricket ground. The duckling must be left on the boundary. On returning from the pitch the duckling must be worn again.
3. The coloured duckling must be worn (if there is one available) from 5 minutes after the player leaves the field of play having been out for naught. It should be worn until that player scores a run in another innings (not if another player requires one). If there are no ducklings available when the player returns, as soon one comes available that evening then it must then be worn. Players losing a duckling must either pass the duckling to a player who is waiting for one or return it to the Duck Master.
4. The Ugly duckling must be worn from the moment it is presented to him to when it is passed on to the next player.
5. All ducklings must be worn when umpiring.
6. At the end of each season all ducks must be returned to the Duck Master within two weeks of the final game. Failure to do this will result in a fine.
Duck Abuse
1. If a player is seen not wearing a duckling when he should be, that player will be fined over and above his match fines. Abusing a Yellow Duckling will receive a fine of 50p. Abusing the Ugly Duckling will receive a fine of £1.
2. All Duck abuse funds will firstly go towards duck maintenance (such as engraving, purchase of new ducks, etc) and secondly towards the end of season dinner. Spending of duck funds must be passed by a majority vote by the Duck Committee.
3. Failure to return Ducklings to the Duck Master will result in a fine of 50p per week that the duck is away from the Winter Duck House.
4. Abuse fines can NOT exceed a ‘Felton’.
Duck Disputes
1. Any disputes will be discussed and then voted upon by the Duck Committee. Should there not be a majority decision then the Duck Master will have the deciding vote.
Revised Aug 2004
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