The Australian cricket team has often been under suspicion for their antics to take advantage of the laws of the game and make them work in their favour. And now, the Aaron Finch led Australian team have found a simple way to deal with the slow over rate problem in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022.
Australian spinner Ashton Agar revealed that he has decided to deploy benchwarmers around the boundary to save precious seconds during the match, which could save him from penalties.
Earlier this year, the ICC introduced in-game penalties to prevent slow over-rates in cricket, according to which the bowling team failed to complete their overs within the time limit, they will have to have one additional inside 30-yards circle for the remaining overs of the inning.
Meanwhile, the Australian cricket team has found a simpler way to deal with the slow over rate penalty. Ashton Agar explained that his team is deploying reserve players around the fence during powerplays, which enables them to get the ball faster than fielders on the field, saving valuable time.
Ashton Agar said during a conversation with Cricket.com.au: “Obviously in the powerplay, the ball moves around, and the players have to get the ball back, which is part of cricket, but it wastes a lot of time. it happens. So it is difficult to manage time. So, I think you can save about 10 seconds by deploying the guys on the bench around the field, and that’s a lot at the end of the game.”
He further said that it’s not really benefiting them, but it’s just a matter of understanding. He further added that he think there is an advantage in following the above mentioned tactics because in the powerplays a team don’t have fielders around the fence, so players from outside the playing XI can prove to be beneficial for that team.