Change in power play rules?

Question

In the midst of the heated battle in the ICC on Zimbabwe's future, there is one development I wanted to discuss here. The power play rules for ODI's have been slightly altered where the batting side gets to choose when one of the 2nd or 3rd power plays takes place.

First of all it will swing the game more towards the bowlers when the team batting first might opt for those power plays during the slog overs say between 45-50 overs. As if T20, better bats, flatter pitches, ball changes weren't enough, now batsmen getting to choose a power play tilts the game away from the bowlers.

On the bright side,I think it might speed up those games which are going towards a predictable result. The side chasing might want to impose a power play and finish a game quickly instead of knocking singles, makes the game a bit more interesting in that scenario.

Also a team chasing, needing quick runs to keep up with the required run rate, might conserve that power play to use it at the end or whenever they deem it necessary, makes some of those games a little more exciting as well.

Answer 1

i dont know about this development.. but lets see

Answer 2

Another change is that, a third fielder is allowed outside the circle during the second & third power plays, which I think will even out things.

What I have observed is mostly teams want to bowl out the power plays early on the match, 1-10, 11-15 & 16-20 overs.

But I think, the decision to allow batting team take the second or third power play will be slightly advantageous to the batting team.

If the batting team has got a great start, they will employ the power play immediately. And the bowling team will want to contain the batsman, and they are not going to take the power play but the batting team can ask for it.  But if the batting team got off to bad start, I think the bowling team will go ahead with the 2nd power play.

If the batting team got a nice start, the bowling team is not going to take the power play, and will wait for the batting team to ask for it. How long? And the batting team will be desperate to get the power play. Lot of mind games is going to be involved than before.

So whatever things may turn out to be, the third power play is going to be taken by the batting team, and watch out, and I bet that will be 45-50 overs of the match or after the fall of a couple of wickets send in 2 big hitters and take the power play. (What if the match is curtailed and the 3rd power play never taken?)

If the batting team have not taken the power play in the early half, the bowling team will be forced to preserve the main / strike bowlers' overs to the later part of the game.

The ICC should have delineated which power play could be asked for by the batting team. 'Second or third' is quite contentious.

Answer 3

yea, i agree with PH. We'll have to see how this spans out first before we can make a decision.

Answer 4

I don't think it's a great idea, because it will be the more batsman's game.

Once the rule of 4 stumps in first class matches of UAE was used, but it didn't work.

Answer 5

I think this is one of those decisions that we will have to see how it develops . To me , it initially sounded daft, but the more you think about it the more it could make sense.

Answer 6

I'm not sure why the ICC think the power-plays need changing in the first place but at least they're looking to change things up a bit and experiment. I suppose it could work but I think it'll need to be used in a proper match situation to see how it plays out, whether or not the new system is workable, and whether or not it can be implemented properly. Time will tell I guess.

Answer 7

I don't think power plays have actually worked. They were brought in because 50 over cricket was becoming too predictable: batsmen were scoring highly during the fielding restrictions of the first 15 overs, and then knocking singles around until a final onslaught in the last 10.

The introduction of "power plays", where one is in the first 10 overs, and then the other two of 5 overs apiece whenever the fielding captain decided upon them, have never really worked. In the main, they have all been taken in the first 20 overs (although memorably Brian Lara once forgot about his 3rd power play, and had to use it in the last 5 overs!)

Allowing the batting side to decide when to take a power play will probably result in the same. If the batsmen are well set after 10 overs, they are going to want to continue with the power play. Also, they will not want to risk leaving them until too late, when batsmen aren't as well set, and wickets are falling.

So in my opinion it is another gimmick from the ICC that won't work.But to give them credit, at least they are trying something different.