Tony Becca

CRICKET MATCHES in Jamaica often times get off to a late start; there are two basic reasons for that and a few years ago the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) decided to put a stop to it.

One reason for the late start is that teams, particularly visiting teams, are usually late for the scheduled start of a match, another reason is that the pitch and or the ground is not ready for the scheduled start of play and, in an effort to get matches starting on time, the JCA introduced a penalty that it hoped would force teams to be on time and home teams to have the pitch and or the ground ready for the scheduled start.

According to the rules now governing the JCA's competitions, the umpires must ensure that the team that is late or has failed to have its pitch and or its grounds ready for the scheduled start of play forfeits the toss and must award penalty runs at the rate of one run for every two minutes up to a maximum of 60 runs to the non-offending team.

In the interest of the game, however, in the interest of a competition, the time has come for the JCA to revisit the situation - and for five reasons.

Although the idea is to make the penalty such that a team will make every effort not to be penalised, reason number one is that it just does not seem right for a team to be penalised twice in a match.

Reason number two is that by penalising a team twice, by awarding the non-offending team both the toss and penalty runs, it gives one team too much of an advantage in a competitive game.

HEAVY AND PERSISTENT RAIN

Reason number three is there are times when, maybe because of heavy and persistent rain in the days leading up to a match, the failure of a team to have its pitch and or the ground ready is not its fault.

Reason number four is that while some umpires take that into consideration, some umpires do not, and reason number five is that the rule in the Supreme Ventures Super Cup and the Red Stripe Championship is different from the rule in the Capital & Credit limited-overs competition.

While the JCA must do something in order to get matches started on time, both teams in a match should have an equal chance of winning, and when one team, for example, is awarded 60 runs and the toss, the other team hardly has a chance of winning - and especially so if it is sent to bat on a pitch that is poorly prepared or on one that is affected by rain.

CONSISTENCY IS IMPORTANT

Maybe it should be one or the other - penalty runs or the toss.

While the JCA must do something in order to get matches starting on time, consistency is important.

In the rain-affected Super Cup semi-final matches between Melbourne and the Jamaica Defence Force, two sets of umpires made two different decisions in almost identical situations.

The first match was preceded by heavy rain for days, it did not start until the second and final day, and the umpires awarded Melbourne 15 penalty runs and the toss.

The second match was also preceded by heavy rain for days, it started late on the first day, and there was no penalty.

UMPIRES' DECISIONS

In other words, on the first occasion one set of umpires decided that the late start was due to tardiness on the part of JDF while on the second occasion the second set decided that the late start was beyond the control of the JDF.

What is interesting, however, is that while the reason for the penalty is the same for all three competitions, there is a difference between the penalty for the Super Cup and the Red Stripe Championship and the limited-overs competition.

In the Super Cup and Red Stripe Championship there are two penalties - runs and the toss. In the limited-overs competition, however, there is only one.

According to the rules governing the limited-overs competition, the only penalty for the team arriving late or for the team failing to have its pitch and or ground ready for play is one run for every two minutes lost.

Apart from that, it is cricket as usual.

With one set of umpires ruling in one match that the visiting team forfeit the toss because it was late, and that it would bat for only a maximum 43 overs and bowl the maximum 50 to the home team, with one set of umpires ruling, in a similar situation in another match, that the only penalty was runs to the opposing team, and with one set of umpires ruling no penalty whatsoever in a match that started late because neither the pitch nor the ground was ready, although there was the embarrassment of three different rulings in three different matches by three different sets of umpires during last weekend's first round of the limited-overs competition, there is no forfeiting of the toss.

In the interest of the game and the competition, the penalty for a late start due to the pitch and or the ground should not be applied when the home team is not guilty of tardiness - when, for example, rain, plenty of rain, makes it impossible to get things done.

ONE PENALTY

On top of that, regardless of whether it is the pitch and or the ground or the late arrival of a team that causes a late start, it should be one penalty - runs in the Super Cup and the Red Stripe Championship, and overs in the Capital & Credit limited-overs competition.

If that is not strong enough to force a team to fulfil its obligations to the game, if a team continues to turn up late or regularly fails to have its pitch and or its ground ready for the scheduled start of play, the JCA can then get tough - really tough.

It can then come up with a second, probably more effective penalty. It can suspend that team - and in the case of a Super Cup team, that would mean playing in the Red Stripe Championship if and when it returns.