London: A shot clock to prevent time wasting, standard ball for the inaugural World Test Championship and free hit for a no-ball are among the steps proposed by the MCC World Cricket Committee to spice up the longest format of the game.
The committee, chaired by former England captain Mike Gatting and which also includes former India captain Sourav Ganguly, suggested some changes for Test cricket at a meeting held in Bengaluru last week.
The proposals were put out by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on its website here Tuesday night. Slow over-rate is a regular phenomenon in the five-day format and has contributed to driving away fans, said the MCC committee on the need for introducing a shot clock.
“When asked what the main barriers were for attending Test Cricket, 25 per cent of fans from England, Australia, New Zealand & South Africa mentioned slow over rates. In those countries, where spinners bowl fewer overs, the full 90 overs are sometimes not bowled in a day, even with the extra 30 minutes,” said the MCC.
“Whilst the Decision Review System (DRS) was partly responsible for the delays, the committee felt that a series of measures should be introduced to help speed up the game.”
The committee’s specific recommendations include:
1) A timer, to be shown on the scoreboard, to count down from 45 seconds from the call of over.
(This would be increased to 60 seconds for a new batsman on strike and 80 seconds for a change of bowler).
2) If either side is not ready to play when the clock reaches zero, they would receive a warning, with further infringements in that innings, resulting in five penalty runs being awarded to the opposition.