Red card in cricket!

The 2023 edition of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is all set to kickstart on August 16 with a blockbuster match between St Lucia Kings and Jamaica Tallawahs.

With just a few days left for an exhilarating 2023 CPL edition, organisers of men's Caribbean Premier League and Women's CPL on Saturday announced strict penalties for teams bowling their overs slowly.

Taking inspiration from football, a red-card like system has been introduced by the organisers, implementation of which allows umpires or match referee to remove a player from the ground if a team is behind schedule at the start of the 20th over of an innings. The introduction of a red-card-like system as penalty in CPL for slow over rate is a first in the history of T20 cricket.

Addressing the new rule, CPL Tournament Operations Director, Michael Hall in the media release said, "We have been disappointed that our T20 games have been getting longer and longer each year, and we want to do what we can to arrest this trend. It is the duty of those involved in cricket to ensure that the game keeps moving and we have sensitised both the franchises and our match officials to this duty ahead of the tournament."

He further added, "If behind the required over rate at the start of the 18th over, one additional player must enter the fielding circle - for a total of five players inside the circle. If still behind the rate at the start of the 19th over, two additional fielders must enter the fielding circle - for a total of six inside the circle. If still behind the rate at the start of the final over, teams will lose a player from the field."