Adopting Hundred’s ‘over-rate rule’ would make a difference to IPL: Gower

The inaugural edition of ECB’s brainchild, ‘The Hundred’, has seen a plethora of innovations but one rule that has received plaudits from fans and experts alike is in-game punishment for over-rate offences. Teams that lag behind on the over-rate (i.e. teams that don’t bowl the overs within the stipulated time) are punished instantaneously, and are forced to field an extra person inside the circle from the point of the transgression. 

Notably, the innovation has turned the tide of many a match, with the team committing the over-rate offence often finding itself handicapped towards the fag end with the ball. 

The rule has been lauded by many as an effective way to tackle over-rate offences, and speaking exclusively to Cricket.com, former England skipper David Gower claimed that the IPL could ponder adopting the ‘over-rate rule’ from The Hundred. The rule, Gower believes, will make a big difference to the outcome of matches. 

“If the IPL were to adopt that one idea from The Hundred, which is to penalize the fielding side if they’re too slow, with field placing, that would make a difference to any game. So maybe that’s one of the good ideas to come out of The Hundred,” Gower told Cricket.com, giving his thoughts on Cricket’s battle against over-rates. 

Not too long ago, hefty fines (which translated into a ban for the captain in the case of repeated offence)  were the only form of punishment for slow over-rates in Test cricket, but since the inauguration of the World Test Championship, the ICC has started to dock points from teams (along with imposing fines). 

England and India were docked two WTC points each in the aftermath of the Trent Bridge Test and in the inaugural WTC cycle, point-docking cost Australia a spot in the WTC Final. Terming ‘fines’ as a negligible punishment, Gower welcomed the ICC’s decision to dock points for over-rate offences, and insisted that teams need to be punished in a way that hurts them. 

“I don’t get too upset by over rates. But it would be nice if people could stick to the over rates. There is no easy answer. They’ve tried fining people, but nowadays the odd bit of money disappearing doesn’t seem to make a jot of difference to players, who are already incredibly well paid. Maybe this points thing is valid. Maybe you’ve got to fine the teams in a way that it works,” Gower said.

The former England skipper further opined that fans who pay big bucks to watch a day of Test cricket deserve to see as much cricket as possible to get full value for money.

“The consensus is that over rates, worldwide, are not very good. Aside from being a great game, a lot of money was spent by people coming to Lord’s. It was well supported - England is one of the few places where Test cricket is as well supported. 

“One ticket can cost £150. So for a family of four it’s £600 plus travel to watch one day of international cricket. It’s a lot of money for cricket. If you want value for that money, you want to see as much cricket as you can - that’s one argument.”