Players plan code of conduct

CRICKET

England's county cricketers are trying to install their own code of conduct in time for the forthcoming season. Lord's will be asked to rubber- stamp the initiative from the Cricketers' Association. David Graveney, the general secretary of the players' union, presented a copy of the newly drafted code to the Test and County Cricket Board's chief executive, Alan Smith.

Graveney said English players felt domestic cricket should be more self- regulatory. "We feel we should strive to get cricket more in line with golf, where the players set the rules of conduct and etiquette and administer that code themselves. Standards in golf are high, and we must try to emulate that," he said.

Graveney, at Lord's for a meeting of the Cricketers' Association executive committee, also delivered a document to the TCCB spelling out the tough new stance adopted by England's 360 professional players.

A 1,000-word memorandum, put together by the union, sets out the players' determination to secure improved pay scales, pensions and round-the-year employment.