Picture Credit: Twitter
The 2023 edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is set to kick-off with the season opener between Jamaica Tallawahs and Saint Lucia Kings on August 16, Wednesday at the Darren Sammy International Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia. But, before the tournament begins, the CPL officials have announced a new set of rules regarding the slow over rates, wherein teams will incur severe penalties during matches, if they are found guilty of not following through.
Talking about all the major rules of the Caribbean Premier League, they are basically the Laws of Cricket mandated by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The Preamble to the Laws clearly states that the sport should be played not only according to the laws, but also within the Spirit of Cricket, wherein the responsibility of fair play is on captains, players, and the match officials too.
Also Read: What is the red card rule introduced in CPL?
The law 1.1 talks about how a match should be played between two sides with eleven players each, including captains. The law 2.1 mentions that two umpires appointed before the match, have to control the proceedings as per the laws, with absolute impartiality.
An interval during the match as per the law 11.1 will be between innings, for meals, drinks, and any other agreed interval. While the fair and unfair play on the field is the responsibility of the captains as per law 41.1, the sole judges of the fair and unfair play will be the umpires according to the law 41.2. It also mentions that if an umpire considers any action by a player, which isn’t covered in the laws, as unfair, then they can signal dead ball.
The law 42.1 allows the umpire to act upon any unacceptable conduct from a player, after identifying the four levels of offence to the contrary. In the similar way, the CPL has brought a red card system, allowing the umpire to remove a player from the match, which is selected by the captain, if the fielding side is behind the over rate at the start of the 20th over of the innings.
Michael Hall, the Tournament Operations Director of CPL, talked about how the matches in the league were getting longer, making them take drastic actions to get the play moving faster. He was quoted as saying, “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,” he concluded.
