Bonus points for limited-overs set to revolutionise game

Centurion (South Africa) - A bonus points system for the limited-overs game is neither as daft in its thinking nor as far fetched in its planning as it initially might seem to those who also had doubts about the viability of TV replays to decide line decisions at Test and LOI level.

In fact it ties in neatly with modern South African thinking which is more in tune with revolutionary ideas designed improve the game than most other countries so it should not come as a surprise how the United Cricket Board have become quite adept at doing their own thing.

And the way it worked at the MTN national club championship last month gave Brian Basson, the UCBs director of umpires, who came up with the idea, the feeling that it is going to not only work well when the Standard Bank series starts on December 1 but also change the thinking and strategies surrounding the short game.

As Andre Volsteedt, captain of the Free State University side which won the club championship final, playing through the preliminary stages always made you conscious of your targets and game plans. This was more so on the last day of the league section of the tournament when five teams had a chance of reaching the final.

Kovsies had CBC Old Boys from Pretoria as their main rivals while Zoo Lake, in the other section, got through on the bonus points they had earned, squeezing through ahead of Boksburg and Cape Town University.

The system Basson has devised, and which may yet find its way into the playing conditions of the next World Cup (limited-overs version), has been designed in such a away to give the lesser sides an opportunity. It is based on reward for effort and skill, said Basson this week. Often in the past you see a game which has become one-sided resulting in a team winning just the log points and there is no recognition for their performances.

Now the teams have been given this added incentive and if the way it worked at the club championship is an example I think we are going to see a better brand of thinking when it comes to the national domestic one-day competition, he said.

Although the idea has been borrowed from rugbys Super 12 tournament where teams are rewarded for their try-scoring efforts, the design Basson has designed makes a lot of common sense and will apply to only the preliminary rounds of the domestic limited-overs series.

A team losing the match is awarded a bonus point should they come within five percent (5%) of their opponents total. Basson pointed out how three seasons ago.

Free State had scored 300 runs in a game at the Wanderers and Gauteng passed that total. Free State had earned nothing for their efforts but under the new system they would get a bonus point.

It works the same way should a team win a match by 20 percent (20%) or more: scoring say 250 and bowling the side out for less than 200.

As Volsteedt explained, the system of rotating the bowlers is going to change, as are the batting strategies.

Your game plan can change quite dramatically as will the captains thinking.

It can lead to faster scoring rates and tactical fielding changes within the circle, he said.

Basson agrees by saying that it was designed to give the limited-overs game a little more urgency and make the competition more open.

How often halfway through the season do you see a team struggling to make the top four? I feel that the bonus points will keep the competition alive until the final round with any number of sides in with a chance of reaching the knockout stages he commented.