“We have been disappointed that our T20 games have been getting longer and longer each year, and we want to do what we can to arrest this trend. It is the duty of those involved in cricket to ensure that the game keeps moving and we have sensitised both the franchises and our match officials to this duty ahead of the tournament. Our hope is that these in-game penalties are not needed, but we believe they are proportionate and necessary,” ,” Michael Hall, the CPL’s tournament operations director, said in a release.
Announcing the slow over-rate penalties, which will kick off from the 18th over, the organizers of the leagues said, “If behind the required over rate at the start of the 18th over, one additional player must enter the fielding circle – for a total of five players inside the circle. If still behind the rate at the start of the 19th over, two additional fielders must enter the fielding circle – for a total of six inside the circle. If still behind the rate at the start of the final over, teams will lose a player from the field – selected by the captain – and have six inside the fielding circle. There will also be an onus on batting teams to keep the game moving. After a first and final warning from the umpires, the batting team will be slapped with a five-run penalty for each instance of time wasting.”
“As is customary in the T20 format, each team will have 85 mins to bowl their overs, but this will be monitored more closely at this year’s tournament. The fielding side is expected to have completed the 17th over of the innings after 72’15, the 18th by 76’30 and the 19th by 80’45. The over-rates will be monitored by the third umpire and communicated to the captains via on-field umpires at the end of every over, as well as to the crowd and TV audience, with graphics showing how far they are behind (or ahead of) the over rate. Dispensations will be given for injuries, DRS and time-wasting by the batting side where appropriate,” the release mentioned.
The severe penalties could perhaps set a right example for the BCCI to do something similar at the IPL too, where games often finish late as teams tend to finish their overs beyond the permitted time.
The CPL 2023 starts on August 17 with Jamaica Tallawahs taking on St Lucia Kings in Gros Islet, while the WPL event will start on September 1 with a game between Barbados Royals and Guyana Amazon Warriors in Bridgetown, Barbados.
