A football-style red card rule is all set to be introduced in cricket in this year's Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament to penalise teams for time wasting and not completing their overs on time.
In CPL 2023, the bowling teams will be sanctioned for slow over-rate with a player removed from the field if they are behind schedule at the start the 20th over of the innings, along with a five-run penalty.
The teams have 85 mins to complete their quota of 20 overs. However, if their over rate is not upto the mark, the teams will be penalised from the 18th over onwards.
"To ensure that games are finished in good time, penalties for slow over rates will kick in from the 18th over," said the Caribbean Premier League in a media release.
The following are the penalties for slow over-rates:
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 5)
If still behind the rate at the start of the 19th over, two additional fielders must enter the fielding circle (for a total of 6)
If still behind the rate at the start of the 20th 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 given a 5 penalty for each instance of time wasting.
Michael Hall, CPL’s Tournament Operations Director, said: "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."
