Start times at 10am
Bad light, slow over rates, rain, ridiculous scheduling and many more obscure things combine to ensure that its rare you ever see a full 90 overs in a day in England.
This fact is often overlooked because the game may not go 5 days, but it should not deter from the fact that fans pay a lot of money to watch cricket, and not enough is played.
I don’t know the history of why we start at 11am, but we should not. Dew wont be a factor at 10am, its plenty of time to get the ground, and its less likely to be impacted by bad light.
Keep it simple
Penalise slow over rates with runs
At the close of play, any overs not bowled (after umpire and match referee agree any adjustment) are penalised.
The penalty is run rate of the day multiplied by the overs not bowled. Added to extras.
Example:
7 overs not bowled.
3.13 runs per over for the day.
7 x 3.13 = 21.91 (rounded up = add 22 runs to the extras of the batting team total).
Ban substitute fielders:
This is both time wasting and cheating, it needs policed properly and an example set.
A substitute will only be permitted by the Umpires and match referee in the following instances:
- A player is concussed during the course of the match.
- A player suffers an external injury during the course of the match.
- A player suffers an illness during the course of the match.
Under no circumstances can a substitute fielder enter the field of play without express permission.
Under no circumstances can a substitute fielder replace a player who is: going to the toilet, changing boots, having a rest/massage, having a chat with the coaching team.
In these events, the fielding team must field with 10 men.
Drinks beaks (official and unofficial).
A huge amount of time is wasted with drinks. No drinks breaks are permitted in the two hour sessions. Professional athletes can rehydrate at the allotted intervals.
Where temperatures exceed 20 degrees Celsius, the Umpires and Match Referee can agree one official drinks break per session.
Boundary checks:
This is also an absurd waste of time, it should not matter if the left testicle of the fielder may have brushed the ‘Toblerone’ for a tenth of a second.
Has the ball struck or crossed the boundary marker (Toblerone)? If no, its not a four.
Ball changes:
Ban the players from requesting ball changes. The condition of the ball is the sole responsibility of the Umpires.
Batsman who bat a long time are entitled to take advantage of a soft or out of shape ball.
Fielding teams who bowl badly or choose to bang it into the pitch must suffer the consequences of their actions.
DRS in not a tactic:
DRS has become a time consuming and tactical part of cricket, this was never the intention. I don’t like the ethos behind a player being able to overturn an umpires decision, but especially the tactical element – that’s just not cricket.
The review system should be fully in control of the match officials. The two on field umpires should be supported by the two additional off field umpires and the match referee.
The Umpire can refer to the off field team or in reverse the off field team and advise the on field umpire. The aim is to remove decisions that are clearly wrong, nothing more, nothing else.
The global game:
There are many other things that need to be done, things that the ICC seem unwilling to take responsibility for. Things that the boards of England, Australia and India seem happy to ignore so long as they are making money.
- Reduce the WTC to 8 teams (Eng, Aus, Ind, Pak, WI, NZ, SA, SL).
- Ensure fees are shared between teams equally.
- Ensure all test series at min 3 and max 5 per annum.
- Limit each team to one home and one away series per year (10 tests).
- Create windows for the tests where they don’t clash with T20.