What’s the story?
Brendon McCullum's one-game suspension in the Big Bash League for his second offence of slow over-rate certainly brought plenty of interesting debate, especially from current Australian players who came up with plenty of humorous suggestions under the hashtag #bazrules.
Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith had plenty of creative ideas as far as punishment for the former New Zealand captain was concerned, ahead of the first Australia-Pakistan ODI.
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Brisbane Heat took six minutes more than their allowed time to complete their innings with the ball in their last encounter against the Perth Scorchers that they lost. This was the second time that they had been behind the over-rate, after falling 5.5 minutes behind in their clash agianst Hobart Hurricanes on December 30.
In their last match, Heat took 96 minutes to complete their bowling, 6 minutes over the 90-minute allowance (which amounts to an over) and since this was McCullum’s second slow over-rate offence in this tournament he will be suspended for the “next match he is available for selection in”.
The heart of the matter
With the loss of Chris Lynn to the Australian ODI squad, the loss of Brendon McCullum will be a huge blow for the Heat, who are still in a strong position to make the semi-final. They take on the Melbourne Stars on Tuesday, for which the Kiwi will be missing.
His suspension however has certainly got everyone from the commentators to cricketers to the fans talking and the hashtag #bazrules certainly makes for an entertaining read even if the suggestions are from serious to an issue that is no laughing matter for Brisbane Heat.
What next?
Brisbane Heat, who are in second place in the standings, level on points with Perth Scorchers, who lead the way, will take on Melbourne Stars on January 17, without their captain Brendon McCullum. Their final group game is against the Melbourne Renegades on January 20 and they only need a win from one of those two games to make it to the semi-final of this year’s competition.
Sportskeeda’s take
While there needs to be a punishment for any offence, the one-game suspension for slow over-rate certainly seems harsh, even if the same is followed in international cricket as well (albeit with different parameters). The punishment must fit the crime and there can certainly be better ways to punish a captain for slow over-rate than just suspending them but this humorous take by the Australian players shows that the banter amongst international stars doesn’t fade away after retirement.
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