McCullum suspended for slow over rate

Brisbane Heat captain Brendon McCullum has been given a one-match suspension for maintaining a slow over rate in the match against the Perth Scorchers on Wednesday, and will miss the side's next match on January 17. Joe Burns will take over as captain against the Melbourne Stars.

The Heat were found to be six minutes behind the prescribed 90 minutes they had to bowl 20 overs, after time allowances were considered. This was also their second over-rate offence this season. They were also fined $1000 per player, which was later reduced to $500 as they did not appeal against the ruling.

McCullum didn't seem too impressed with the decision when he spoke to Ten Sport. "I think we were a little bit late today with it but it's pretty difficult, you kind of get penalised for taking wickets," McCullum said. "Overall, you've got 35,000 people turning up to every game, ultimately the product is going outstanding and we finished [the match] ten minutes early anyway.

"Let's see what happens. Hopefully I'll be right for next game. I think there were some inconsistencies in that [the first over-rate penalty] but let's wait and see. If you do get suspended, you get suspended, and that's how it is."

Queensland Cricket's chief executive officer, Max Walters, told the Big Bash League website, "It is a shame but we accept those are the competition rules we are playing under and [it] reminds us that we can continue to improve in all facets of the game. We're sure Brendon and the team will rebound from this setback and finish the competition strongly."