What do I do if a junior fielder stands too close to the batter?

Question

Accepted Answer

The ECB Recreational Cricket Safety Regulations set minimum fielding distances, in hard and soft ball cricket, measured from the batter's position on the popping crease on a middle stump line:

Fielder's age	Minimum distance
13 and under	11 yards (10 m)
14 and 15	8 yards (7.3 m)
16 and 17	None, but in hard ball cricket they need a helmet (and box if male) within 8 yards

Fielders behind the wicket on the off side are exempt. The distances apply even if the fielder wears a helmet, and follow the fielder's own age, not the age group.

Appointed Umpire

The bowler's end umpire stops the game and tells the fielder and their captain (team manager in junior cricket) to move back.
If they refuse: treat it as time wasting. Call dead ball if the ball is in play, tell the other umpire, give the fielding captain a first and final warning, and tell the batters.
If they still refuse: award 5 penalty runs to the batting side (Law 41.9).
If they still refuse: the fielding side is refusing to play and the match is awarded to the batting side (Law 16.3.1.2).

Acting Umpire: stop the game and don't continue until the fielder moves back. If play doesn't resume within 15 minutes, the fielding team forfeits the match.

Some competition playing conditions (for example ECB national junior competitions) also let a fielder move into the restricted area to field the ball or take a catch, provided they were outside it when the stroke was made.