Trent Woodhill Defends The New Rules Introduced By Him In The BBL

Trent Woodhill, the architect behind the three new rules that the Big Bash League [BBL] has unveiled for the upcoming season, has shrugged off the criticism that the changes have attracted from both fans, pundits, former and current cricketers.

With an objective to address the falling ratings and declining attendance in stadiums as observed in BBL 09, Woodhill has come up with new rules- Power Surge, Bash Boost, and X-Factor.

Teams will now be awarded a bash-boost for being ahead of their opponent at the half-way mark. A player, called X-Factor, can be introduced by a side after the 11th over mark in place of a player who should neither have batted nor should he have bowled more than one over. The Power-Surge, on the other hand, is a two-over powerplay which the batting team can use after the 11th over. The conventional six-over powerplay has been reduced to four overs.

Defending the rules, Trent Woodhill said that these are not ‘gimmicks’ as suggested by the likes of Shane Watson and Usman Khawaja and that fans should be prepared for a few more changes in the future.

The Power-Surge rule, Woodhill explained, has been integrated after a research conducted by Cricket Australia found that games were effectively decided at the six-over mark, and there was little to no change in the run-rate in overs five and six. The cricket freethinker said that the rule will help reduce the lull between 7-13 overs.

“The words dull and lull aren’t great words. I think the BBL is about innovation, excitement, and change. I’d expect and hope there would be more changes in the future,” Trent Woodhill was quoted as saying by www.watoday.com.au.

“I want to maintain that contest between bowler and bat. This isn’t a gimmick to the players or coaches. I see how invested the coaches are. It’s a sporting contest, they take great pride in the result of their teams and the same with the players. It’s a pathway to international stardom, not just in world cricket, but franchise cricket.” he said

“We’re noticing games getting killed off when that happens,” Woodhill said.

“It’s still targeting young kids who are getting into cricket,” he said. Our job is to grow that excitement, grow their minds around cricket so that not only are they watching one-day international cricket, they’re watching Test cricket – that’s really important,” Trent Woodhill said.

Also Read- Power Surge, X-Factor And Bash Boost- BBL Introduces 3 New Rules For The 10th Edition