Slow over rates - what if Smith is suspended

[Slax]

Following on from the fine and suspended sentence that Smith rightly copped for poor over rates what happens if he doesn't fix it in Melbourne?

Smith didn't quicken up in the second innings and if he doesn't in Melbourne can see him sitting in the stands come Sydney. The ICC have made it very clear that they aren't happy with slow over rates, and tv partners don't like it either. So a repeat will see him outed.

If this happens then what do we do? Smith is the reason we are 2-0 up and not 0-2 down so we need him desperately because honestly who out there is capable of scoring the runs? Maybe bring Cowan in to bat at 3, Burns at 4. Then we've got Haddin skipping and having to worry about the fact he's taking more catches than scoring runs which is only going to build pressure on an inexperienced middle order.

If Smith doesn't want to stand out too much on slow over rates then bat first, day 1 is not the time to bowl 83 overs in just over 6.5 hrs, there's nowhere to hide because you dictate your own rate.

 

[Ashton Agar]

There is no reason why you shouldn't bowl 90 overs in a non-rain affected day.

Get your act together Smithy for the next test, Clarke never got banned for slow over rates...

 

[The Casey Cat]

Not much we can do apart from taking the responsibility as a team to be professional regarding over rates. No reason whatsoever that 90 overs can't be bowled by 6pm with no rain. If India want to drag their feet in the field then let them. No reason for us to be the same and if their batsmen are stalling alert the central umpire every time to cover our @$$.

 

[TN25]

No excuse really. Should be able to bowl the 90 overs unless there are rain delays.

 

[Pugsley]

Give the captaincy to Mitch Johnson.

 

[The Passenger]

Over rates are a massive issue in world cricket.

They are total joke. There is so much time wasting going around. Not too mention guys coming on the field for drinks at any given opportunity.

The best crackdown is to cost teams penalty runs. 1 run per minute wasted. And it should also apply to the batting team.

I can only think of rough guidelines at the moment, but essentially there should be 4 minutes per over, plus stoppages for injury (and obviously bad light and rain). Maybe both teams could be allocated five minutes per session for additional water, or injury stoppages (not including severe injury). That would total the additional 30 minutes at the end of the day. To me, penalty runs are the only way to stop this because nothing else is. If the penalty needs to be doubled to 2 runs per minute then do that.

EDIT: Obviously a bit more complicated then that as there are other factors like taking big clumps wickets slows the over rate down for that period, and then there is lost balls and others. But the point still stands.

If a guy gets hit and we * around with doctors and physios, why not just get him in the sheds and assess him properly. With all this talk about concussion its probably better to get them in the sheds anyway. Assess them properly, and if nothing else gives them an extended chance to sit down and compose themselves. You obviously need to make provisions for a batting team that is 9 down (maybe even 8 down), as they should be allowed extra time, but that is easy enough to do.

And another thing is play should always go to 90 overs, unless light or rain stops play. The rules should be that Australia had to bowl out the full 90 overs on Day 1 in the Gabba. Why should paying customers lose 7 overs for no reason other than slow over rate? If it's rain or bad light, then fair enough and those overs are made up in the morning. Why should the same not be done for over rates? But over rates can be made up on the same evening, rather than waiting for the morning before. If bad light or rain comes in before the 90 overs are done, then we make it up in the morning as normal. It's just stupid to me that overs are lost for slow over rates.

On a semi related note, the maximum amount of time made up the morning after losing overs to rain or bad light, should be increased from 30 minutes to a full hour. 2.5 hour first session, 2.5 hour middle session, 2 hour last session.

 

[Mockcockpit]

How are over rates a problem in a game that finished on the 4th day? Surely any slow over rate penalties should be assessed after the series has finished and be on the basis that slow over rates actually affected the result of the series.

 

[The Passenger]

How are over rates a problem in a game that finished on the 4th day? Surely any slow over rate penalties should be assessed after the series has finished and be on the basis that slow over rates actually affected the result of the series.

That's just stupid.

You can't give a penalty retrospectively according to the day the game finishes. The captain on day one has no idea when it's going to finish.

 

[Marstermind]

Drinks breaks. Get rid of them. Three or four minutes wasted every session (3 overs in the day) so the players have a drink despite each being able to call for a drink at any time during the session. What's the point? Probably so the broadcaster can get a good block of ads in at least once an hour. And then the broadcaster complains about not fitting in 90 overs. Can't have it both ways.

 

[MisterMarcus]

Did India get penalised as well? They were no faster than us....

 

[Illinois Nazi]

I have no problem with Smith being under the pump for the awful rates we saw at the Gabba. But I do find it amazing that he's on his last warning already after a career total of one Test as captain when every team in the world is just as slow. I can't remember the last time I saw more than 90 overs in a day.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

Over rates are a massive issue in world cricket.

They are total joke. There is so much time wasting going around. Not too mention guys coming on the field for drinks at any given opportunity.

Dead right and it has to work both ways, the onus is on the fielding captain, but how many times does a batsman want a change of gloves/drink/quick chat between overs.

Seems minimal, but over the duration of a days play it all adds up and there are overs lost from both the team batting and the side in the field.

 

[Marstermind]

Did Kohli get any sanction after the First Test? Smith was tardy in Brisbane. But Kohli deliberately use slow over rates as a tactic to either delay an Australian declaration or minimise the target set for his side.

 

[frankrizzo]

Should be a ban first time we might see an end to this rubbish, will say though how on earth have india escaped they seemed very slow in both tests?

 

[Illinois Nazi]

A team that takes this on and does it right could actually turn it to their advantage. Put constant pressure on the batsmen, don't give them a chance to get a breather between overs, or even between balls. It's an opportunity to be ahead of the curve for a little while, you just need to do your homework (rules out Watson) and be prepared with your bowling plans, fielding plans etc, and just keep running in at them.

A bit like Brad Hogg bowling - gets through his over so quick that before the batsman knows where he is six balls have gone by and five of them were dots while he is still looking around to see where the fielders are.

 

[Run n Spread]

Don't know if 90 overs a day are always possible what with long run ups of bowlers bowling faster than ever, bigger grounds increased intensity and speed (impossible to go full bore) when play is actually on. Especially with a 4 man pace attack bowling mostly. Yet at least most should get bowled with the extra half hour.

Yet current over rates are a joke. The amount of piss farting around, time wasting, useless tactical discussions that can wait, conferences, unscheduled drinks breaks, halting the bowler to move a fielder 30cm complaining, moving of the sight screen if someone on level 4 row z at square leg stands up is ridiculous. Maybe they should dawdle on Boxing Day take the hit for SCG/Windies as an ashes suspension could be a disaster.

If in doubt what to do, walk back and bowl the bloody thing. It is not rocket science.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

There is no reason why you shouldn't bowl 90 overs in a non-rain affected day.

Get your act together Smithy for the next test, Clarke never got banned for slow over rates...

Agreed. I'm a big fan of Smith so I don't want him out of the team for any reason, but bowling 15 lousy overs in an hour should be a walk in the park. Any captain who can't achieve this deserves any penalty they receive. Hopefully Smith has learnt from this and it won't be a problem in future.

Mind you, having said that, there are other reasons in today's cricket which also slow over rates down. These include batsmen changing gloves every 3-4 overs, batsmen stopping bowlers in their delivery stride because someone stood up in the crowd at square leg, umpires calling for reviews of no-balls after every wicket, the DRS which is the greatest time waster of them all, and copious other ways to waste time.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Punter said in his book that part of the problem at least is how long the scheduled drinks break takes. It takes so long for the sponsored water truck to get on and off the ground, that the scheduled break takes far longer than it should.

 

[Feerits Elf]

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I think I read, or heard a comment from Richie Benaud that back in the 1960-61 Test Series against the West Indies, teams were bowling over 100 8 ball overs in a day. That's 800 balls. Now they can't manage 540 balls.

 

[Cleavy]

Did Kohli get any sanction after the First Test? Smith was tardy in Brisbane. But Kohli deliberately use slow over rates as a tactic to either delay an Australian declaration or minimise the target set for his side.

not for overs, just for altercations. Not sure at what point the suspensions kick in, but I believe they said Smith was 6 overs behind the rate.

 

[JP Sauce]

This has been a problem for over a decade so I can't see anything changing now.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

If Shield teams can bowl 96 overs in a day, test captains can bowl 90!

 

[Taylor]

What is there stopping the batting side stretching out the time?

Such as Yadav pulling away in the over before the break so the clock ticks over without fitting another in.

 

[JP Sauce]

How about instead of scrapping drinks breaks (which I don't think will ever happen) they bring in a ban on any support staff or 12th/13th men coming onto the field outside of the three designated drinks breaks?

If a batsman needs new equipment he can ask permission from the umpire, but he'd want to have a seriously good reason to be holding up play. For example, "My gloves feel kinda sorta funny" isn't one.

As for fielding teams we need real-time penalties to try and speed things up. Run penalties at the end of each session or day might do the trick.