BBL 07: Perth Scorchers captain Adam Voges suspended for one game

The Defending BBL Champions, Perth Scorchers have just lost a very close encounter to the Sydney Thunder on Thursday. Although Bancroft and Cartwright have almost pulled off what seemed to be impossible, they fell short by a mere 3 runs. The Scorchers stand second in the points table with 10 points and a decent NRR of +0.017.

Although they seem to look solid on the points table, the Scorchers have been marred by injuries and other problems. And in a recent development, their skipper has been suspended due to a slow over rate. This will call on more unforced changes to the eleven and pose troubles before the crucial encounter with the Strikers who will also miss the services of their captain, Travis Head.

Slow over rate troubles Voges

The two-times winning captain, Adam Voges who has reached the twilight of his career has been suspended for one game due to slow over rate. The team was found to be one over short in their previous encounter with the Thunders. It is the second time that the Scorchers have completed their innings with a slow over rate within a week. They ended up with a similar breach against the Brisbane Heat earlier on January 5.

This is an automatic one-match suspension in accordance with the BBL playing conditions. Taking this to Twitter, former Australian bowler Mitchell Johnson has termed the over-rate penalty as a “Joke”. Australian Cricketers’ Association CEO Alistair Nicholson has urged Cricket Australia to be more lenient assessing the over rates as many cricketers have been fined in the first half of the league.

Voges has had a miserable tournament so far as a player only averaging 19.8 with the bat and has bowled only one over in the tournament. He has been top-notch with his leadership skills though. Once he completes the one-match suspension, his strikes tally will be reset to zero. He is expected to be back on the field in Perth’s home game against the Hobart Hurricanes on January 20. The team management is expected to announce their interim captain soon.

Each member of the Scorchers XI has been fined $1000 for the breach which could be halved if accepted without any appeal.