ICC to discuss ‘boundary count’ rule after 2019 World Cup final controversy

The Anil Kumble-led Cricket Committee is set to contemplate on some rules, regarding the 2019 World Cup, especially the ‘boundary count’ rule that helped England get their hands on the coveted trophy. The same was informed by Geoff Allardice, the General Manager, cricket, in the International Cricket Council (ICC). The topics will be discussed in the ICC’S next meeting.

The game at the Lord’s was tied after which it went to the Super Over. Both the teams scored 15 each and the Three Lions got through, riding on luck. Thereafter, Kane Williamson, the New Zealand skipper, said that it was a shame that his team had to return empty-handed. Even Eoin Morgan, the Brits’ skipper said that it was unfair to have a result like that in the crunch game.

The ICC GM shares his opinion

Allardice remarked that the issues will be put forward in the meeting. He also told the reasons behind replacing the Bowl-Out rule with the Super-Over rule since 2009. “The Cricket Committee will consider any issues arising from the World Cup final when it next meets (in the first quarter of 2020),” Allardice was quoted as saying in ESPNcricinfo.

“A Super Over has been used to determine a winner in a tied match in ICC events since 2009 (replacing the bowl-out), and the tie-breaker after a tied Super Over needed to be derived from something that happened in that particular match. So, it has always related to the number of boundaries scored in the match,” he mentioned.

“Almost all the T20 leagues around the world also use boundaries as the tie-breaker in their Super Overs. We wanted to use the same Super Over regulations that are used across all professional cricket and that’s why it was the way it was. Whether it should be different is something that our cricket committee will consider at some point,” the GM added.

There were also talks surrounding whether the World Cup could’ve been shared or not. Throwing light on the matter, Allardice stated that the final of the mega event needs a winner. Furthermore, he backed Kumar Dharmasena, who was a recipient of criticism after he conceded an extra run to the hosts. The GM said that he was preferred over the likes of Aleem Dar since he was higher in their rankings.