Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said the first Caribbean Premier League red card handed out to his Trinbago Knight Riders side was “absolutely ridiculous”.
Trinbago were forced to field with only 10 players, including just two outside the 30-yard circle, for the final over of their bowling innings against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Sunday due to a slow over-rate.
The CPL has brought in the red card rule as part of new initiatives to speed up slow over-rates.
The rules require teams to have completed the 17th over of the innings by 72 minutes and 15 seconds, the 18th by 76 minutes and 30 seconds and the 19th by 80 minutes and 45 seconds.
The rule is not limited to bowling sides, with batting sides to be given a five-run penalty for each instance of time-wasting after a first and final warning from umpires.
Pollard was first forced to have one extra fielder inside the ring for the 18th over, before another had to come up from the boundary in the penultimate over, leaving just three in the outfield.
His team were still behind the required rate heading into the final over and with umpire Zahid Bassarath showing him a red card, spinner Sunil Narine was forced to leave the field,
“To be honest, it will take away the hard work everyone has done,” Pollard said. “We are like the pawns and we are going to do what we are told.
“We are going to play as fast as we can. If you are penalised for 30-45 seconds in a tournament like this, it is absolutely ridiculous.”
Despite the final over of the Patriots’ innings costing Trinbago’s Dwayne Bravo 18 runs, it did not prove crucial. Pollard, Nicholas Pooran and Andre Russell made short work of a 179-run target with 17 balls spare.
It comes amid a crackdown on over rates by the ICC in the international game, with both England and Australia docked significant amounts of World Test Championship points for their over rates during the recently concluded Ashes series.
Australian opener Usman Khawaja spoke out after the rain-affected fourth Test in Manchester.
“Don’t even get the chance to bowl in the second innings at Manchester due to 2 days of rain and (the) ICC still issue fines and take 10 WTC points off us for slow over rates!”, Khawaja tweeted earlier this year.
“That makes a lot of sense …”
While the red card solution may seem bizarre, it is not the first use of the football-inspired sanction on the cricket pitch.
The very first international T20 fixture between Australia and New Zealand, at Eden Park in 2005, was treated as effectively an exhibition game with players wearing fake moustaches and wigs.
Australia’s Glenn McGrath, with New Zealand needing an impossible 45 from the final ball of the game, went to imitate the infamous 1981 underarm ball, only to be stopped by umpire Billy Bowden and given a red card.
Source: FOX Cricket
