General News
24 October, 2024
Rule refinement coming for T20
THE FIRST ever round of T20 cricket in the Upper Loddon competition has left club officials and scorers stumped. Confusion about the format’s rules reigned, with clubs unsure whether matches should be called once the chasing teams passed their...
THE FIRST ever round of T20 cricket in the Upper Loddon competition has left club officials and scorers stumped.
Confusion about the format’s rules reigned, with clubs unsure whether matches should be called once the chasing teams passed their opponents’ scores.
In both cases – Kingower versus Boort Yando and Wedderburn Band versus Arnold – the teams that had already gone ahead on the scoreboard continued to bat on.
With run rate potentially critical in deciding the T20 grand finalists, who will be playing for the Loddon Herald Cup, uncertainty about when the matches officially ended was widespread.
At Kingower, scorers effectively had two scorebooks – one which recorded the tally after the home side passed Boort’s total of 7-73 in the 10th over, and another which counted all 20 overs that Kingower faced, finishing with 4-168.
Officials admitted neither team knew when the match officially ended.
Kingower’s run rate when it passed Boort’s score was just over seven per over but reached 8.4 after batting the full 20 overs.
Kyle Simpson was on 11 when the match officially ended, but was 58 not out after 20 overs, putting a question mark over the league’s individual statistics as well as overall results.
At Wedderburn, the home side overtook Arnold’s total of 6-75 in the 12th over.
The Band played on, however, asking their opponents if they could bowl a couple of extra overs so James Van de Wetering could have a hit – and because the barbecue wasn’t ready.
“It’s not cooked yet,” came the call from the barbie master as Wedderburn batted on turf wicket at Market Square until the end of the 16th over.
Wedderburn’s run rate was 6.25 per over when it “won” the game but had fallen to 5.68 after batting on.
Points from the T20 competition will count towards clubs’ overall tallies at the end of the season, but there will also be a separate T20 ladder to decide the grand finalists.
Upper Loddon Cricket Association president John Daldy told the Loddon Herald that competition officials accepted there would be “a bit of confusion to start off with until we get the format settled”.
It was “a learning process for the association”, he said, and “tweaks” would be made before this weekend’s fixture, which sees another T20 round.
“Something new is always going to be hard to implement,” Daldy said.
“It’s a matter of getting everyone on the same scorebook, so to speak.”
On Saturday Boort Yando will host Bridgewater, with Wedderburn at home to Kingower in the next round of the T20. Arnold has the bye.
The T20 cup final will be played in December.