Cricket is set to introduce a type of ‘shot-clock’ to the game in a bid to speed up play and avoid a similar ‘timed out’ fiasco that occurred during the Sri Lanka v Bangladesh clash.
The issue has been raised before but did not get voted through, but with the topic firmly on the agenda at the upcoming ICC chief executives meeting that follows this World Cup it is set to get the green light. Rather than a shot clock that is used in basketball which demands a ‘play’ is completed within 24 seconds the cricket version would be used to speed up what Ricky Ponting refers to as ‘dead time’ between balls and between overs.
It is these breaks in play that have become more and more drawn out over the years with discussions on field placings, and strategies taking place more and more often, plus batters demanding extra drinks breaks beyond the allotted provision. Poor over rates have long been punishable with match fee percentage fines, but players recently demanded a change that capped the fine at 50 percent in Test cricket, and points deductions in the World Test Championship are also used.
In white-ball cricket, teams that now fail to bowl their overs on time have a fielder brought back into the inner circle for each over they are behind. A shot clock would demand that play gets under way promptly after each pause with runs penalties more suitable with the same perhaps more appropriate for a new batter delay too.
On the subject, Ponting originally said: “It is the dead time in the game, so at the end of the over the fielders and the bowlers have to be back in the position and ready to bowl at a certain time. That is a non-negotiable.
“The same with the new batsman coming to the crease - the bowling team has to be ready when the batsman gets there and he has had a certain amount of time."
Is a shot-clock what cricket needs? Have your say in the comments section
During the World Cup match against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka's Angelo Matthews became the first international cricketer to ever be timed out. The 36-year-old was struggling with his helmet on his way to the crease, and an appeal from the opponents was upheld.
"We talk about safety of the players, and you guys tell me if it's right for me to take my guard without my helmet on," Mathews told reporters after the game. "That's where the umpires could have done a bigger job at the time because they could have gone back and checked.
"A wicketkeeper for a spinner they don't let keep without his helmet. So how can I take my guard without my helmet? It's completely an equipment malfunction."