'We're doing it for the fans' - Pete Russell, the CPL's CEO, on red-card rule

Pete Russell, the CPL's CEO, has defended the introduction of red cards to combat slow over-rates after Kieron Pollard had raised concerns over it.

After Pollard's Trinbago Knight Riders became the first team in the CPL to get a red card, he called the new penalty rule "absolutely ridiculous".

"I thought it did exactly what I wanted it to do (laughs). Unfortunately, Kieron didn't quite see it that way, but look it is tough," Russell said before the start of the Barbados leg of the CPL. "I'm sure the captain next to me [Rovman Powell, Barbados Royals] would agree. If you have three overs where you effectively have the penalty, it does make a difference. The reason we've done it is to just speed up the pace of play. I know IPL games go well over four hours, which is just too long."

Russell stressed that the penalty was brought in to prioritise fans and that the new rule has been a success so far.

"I sat next to someone in the stands during that game on Sunday and he had to get a ferry back to Nevis and he had to leave the game early because of the amount of time it took to bowl those last few overs," Russell said. "So, the last over was bowled in 12 minutes, which, again, is not acceptable. So, it has a knock-on effect.

"We're doing it for the fans - that's really the reason for doing it. I certainly don't mind it to change. If you actually look at the overall timings each game is 17 minutes quicker than it was last year. So, from that point of view, it's been a success and it's just unfortunate that Trinidad got caught up in it, but everyone has signed up for the rules. So, I'm happy with where we are at right now."

Pollard's comments didn't go down too well with the CPL, but Russell hoped that teams would be mindful of the penalty and speed up the play.

"It's not for me to comment on how they take their time," Russell said. "The reality is that the timing is there for a reason, and it is international standard, so unfortunately, he [Pollard] overstepped it in terms of the timing and that was the end of it. I think from a CPL perspective, we're obviously disappointed by the comments afterwards, but you know emotions run high.

"But, for us, we think the rule is there for a reason and every other captain and team has adhered to it. And hopefully, that will be the case going forward because we certainly don't want to see red cards being shown every game. That's not the purpose of it. But, I think, the actual outcome of the red card - it did what it was supposed to do."

The red-card system of ejecting a player from the field for slow over-rate will also be in place for the WCPL, which will run from August 31 to September 10.

The slow over-rate penalties

• If behind the required over rate at the start of the 18th over, one additional player must enter the fielding circle - for a total of five players inside the circle
• If behind the rate at the start of the 19th over, two additional fielders must enter the fielding circle - for a total of six inside the circle
• If behind the rate at the start of the final over, teams will lose a player from the field - selected by the captain - and have six inside the fielding circle
• There will also be an onus on batting teams to keep the game moving. After a first and final warning from the umpires, the batting team will be slapped with a five-run penalty for each instance of time wasting

The rule, using the 85-minutes-per-innings rule for T20 cricket, is that the 17th over of the innings must be completed by 72 minutes and 15 seconds, the 18th by 76 minutes and 30 seconds, and the 19th by 80 minutes and 45 seconds, before the last over ends within 85 minutes.

"Over rates will be monitored by the third umpire and communicated to the captains via on-field umpires at the end of every over, as well as to the crowd and TV audience, with graphics showing how far they are behind (or ahead of) the over rate," a CPL statement had said. "Dispensations will be given for injuries, DRS and time-wasting by the batting side where appropriate."

Recently, slow over-rate has been among the most chronic cricketing issues, which various boards and the ICC have tried to counter. In 2022, the ICC introduced an in-match penalty, where one fielder would be docked from outside the 30-yard circle for slow over-rates in T20Is. So, once a stipulated time was reached, for the rest of the innings, they would be allowed four, instead of five, fielders outside the circle.

The CPL has returned to Barbados for the first time in four years. But Royals didn't quite have a happy homecoming as they were skittled for 61 in their pursuit of 195 against Knight Riders on Wednesday.