It hasn't been a good season for Falmouth Cricket Club in their dealings with the Cornwall Cricket Board this season.

Firstly their second team were relegated from County Division One after suffering an eight-point deduction, before their final game of the season, for fielding an unregistered player.

The silver-lining was that the club's third team had finished second in the County Division Four and were due to be promoted as a result.

However, another storm cloud was brewing as the third team had also breached the 'player selection' rules by naming Greg Stephens in their starting line up for their final game against Perranarworthal.

He normally plays for the second team and St Ives Cricket Club, who were fighting for promotion as well, cried foul play. The Cornwall Cricket Board upheld their complaint and Falmouth were docked the ten points they had gained from the match and St Ives went up instead.

The rules states that a player, who has played 75 per cent or more games at a higher level during the season, cannot take part in a match that could determine relegation or promotion.

Such a player is often refereed to as a ringer – a person who misrepresents his or her identity or ability to gain an advantage in a competition.

The phrase is said to come from horse racing where less-than-honest owners used to maintain two horses that look almost identical. They would race the slower horse until the odds were to their liking, then replace it with the faster horse to win big money.

Now it must be said at this point that Falmouth Cricket Club’s breach of the rules was an honest mistake. Stephens was unable to travel with the second team for their match and dropped down to the thirds as a result.

It is unfortunate that this has cost Falmouth Cricket Club a promotion, but rules like this are integral part of upholding fair play.

You only have to cross over to Cornish football, where the rules are not so strict, to see the problems it creates.

The Jolly’s Combination League is a good example. It has the misfortune of having its season run for a couple of weeks after the campaigns in the CSWPL premier and division one (west) have ended. As a result in May there are lots of players turning out in a division two leagues below the standard they are used to. One such example would be CSWPL premier division striker Danny O’Hagan playing for St Day towards the end of the last campaign.

Of course St Day were not relegated or promoted from the Jolly’s Combination League so what does it matter? Well the problem is that for all those sides that have played St Day earlier in the season and gained three points, there are a number of teams that now face an altogether different proposition.

And it is not just the Jolly’s Combination League that suffers from this problem. Falmouth-Helston Football League teams have been known to switch players when their first team are without a game, but their seconds are still playing. It can also be a problem when crucial cup matches come around.

It is hard to regulate against such incidents as coaches can always claim that the player has been dropped because of a loss of form.

However, you do feel that Cornwall Cricket Board’s strict approach, while costly for Falmouth Cricket Club, is the correct one.

Do you agree? Do you think Falmouth Town Thirds should have been docked 10 points or was the punishment to severe for the crime? Leave your comments below.