Cricket Australia reportedly considers radical rule change for Big Bash League

After three new rule changes received mixed reviews last summer, the Big Bash League is reportedly considering another radical move.

The Big Bash League is reportedly considering introducing another radical rule change for the 11th edition of the T20 tournament in an attempt to help speed up the game.

Cricket fans have voiced their frustration at the immensely slow over rates in men’s professional games, most notably in the Indian Premier League where some matches have lasted four hours.

Last summer’s Big Bash League was no exception, with tedious delays contributing to matches dragging on for three-and-a-half hours and finishing late in the evening.

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Therefore, Cricket Australia is reportedly weighing up whether to alter the infamous “Timed Out” rule for WBBL07 and BBL11.

Law 40 states a batter must be ready to face the next delivery within three minutes of a dismissal, otherwise the incoming player will be “Timed Out”.

But as first reported by ESPNcricinfo, CA is considering cutting that time limit down to just 75 seconds for this summer’s Big Bash games.

However, umpires would not immediately give the batter out if they are not ready in time under the proposed rule change, rather the bowler would be granted an unopposed delivery at the stumps – the bowling equivalent of a free hit.

If the bowler misses, the batter would then be allowed to start their innings.

If the batter misses the deadline under the proposed rule change, they would be asked to step aside as the bowler attempted a free delivery at the stumps. Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images

“One of the core parts of the Big Bash experience for families and kids is really fast-paced action that finishes inside three hours,” CA’s General Manager of Big Bash Leagues Alistair Dobson told news.com.au earlier this year.

“We’re really mindful of the trend across cricket for games to be going longer than scheduled. It’s not unique in the BBL, it’s happening in other forms.

“But it’s something we’re really mindful of and have done a lot of work on since last season.”

Genuinely excited to see this happen. https://t.co/qwMzWHtVf8

— Rudi Edsall (@RudiEdsall) October 7, 2021

now, if video umpires were given 75 seconds to make a decision...

— Rick Eyre on cricket (@rickeyrecricket) October 7, 2021

Earlier this year, England’s The Hundred tournament introduced a rule where an additional player moved inside the circle for each over that is not bowled within the allotted time.

“We’re really interested in how The Hundred are approaching it,” Dobson said.

“They’ve taken a really innovative way to try and incentivise the fielding team to try and keep their over rates ticking over.

“There’s some other opportunities we’re exploring to try and bring a few minutes back into the game.”

Leading into last summer’s competition, CA announced three new rules would be implemented in the men’s tournament – the Bash Boost, the X-Factor and the Power Surge.

Although the Power Surge was widely considered to be a success, the controversial X-Factor and Bash Boost are still under review.