Honestly, it was much needed’ – Fans react as apex board set to begin stop clock trail from West Indies vs England T20I series

Apex board is set to introduce the stop clock from the series between West indies and England. It was decided to implement a new rule to stop the slow overrate in cricket. Despite the presence of an existing rule, the over rates do not seem to have come down. As a result, the apex board has decided to come up with yet another rule.

The rule from the Apex board was amended in a way that the fielding sides would be punished if they fail to finish the 19th over of the game within the stipulated time. In the previous instance, the penalty was being a fielder inside the circle for the last over. So far, the rule does not seem to have impacted the over rates in cricket. Hence, a new rule is set to be tried in cricket.

The rule is that the bowling sides must be able to bowl an over within a minute after the completion of the previous over. The fielding side could not take more time than 60 seconds to start their over. If they fail to do so, there would be warning for each instance of violation of the rule. After every three such violations, the fielding sides would be fined.

Penalty of 5 runs for the bowling side

In case of violation of the stop clock rule on the third consecutive time, the fielding side would be punished with a penalty of 5 runs. And the stop clock would be on in every 2 overs. Hence, the fielding sides could not afford to waste any time in between the overs. The rule is a good move towards reducing the Over rate in cricket.

The stop clock will be implemented from the first T20I of the series between West Indies and England. The execution of the method would give the teams an idea as to how it would work. It is to be seen if the over rates come down with the introduction of the new rule, as cricket matches take way too long time for completion in recent times.

Here’s how the fans reacted to the news –