44 players penalized for slow over rate in BBL including Kiwi cricketers

A staggering 44 players have been penalized by Cricket Australia (CA) after the opening matches of the Big Bash League (BBL) competitions for slow over-rates. Four captains of the men’s Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars teams, as well as the women’s Melbourne Renegades and Adelaide Strikers teams, are on the brink of suspension.

Each team was deemed one over short in their respective matches, triggering fines for every member of the playing XI – $1000 per player for the men’s teams, and $250 for the women’s. That fine can be halved if the team accepts the penalty without appeal.

The two women’s players who have been fined are both Kiwi cricketers-Adelaide Strikers skipper Suzie Bates and Melbourne Renegades skipper Amy Satterthwaite. They have both received a strike after their teams were deemed to have been one over short of the required rate in games last weekend. A second strike would imply a suspension for one game.

Similarly in the BBL, Sixers skipper Moises Henriques and the Stars’ captain John Hastings now each have a strike against their name. It was Hastings’ first match as the Melbourne Stars captain following the retirement of Dave Hussey.

Last season, former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was suspended while leading the Brisbane Heat.

Tournament details

The Sixers lost the opening match of BBL 7 in a final-ball thriller to cross-town rivals the Sydney Thunder, while the Stars went down to Brisbane Heat at the Gabba on Wednesday night.

In the WBBL 3, the Strikers sit second on the ladder with three wins from four games, including the one-run win against the Renegades on December 16, the match that earned the side their slow over-rate penalty.

The teams met again the following day, with the Renegades reversing the result for a nine-run win but also earned themselves their slow over-rate penalty.