New BBL Rules in 2022

Big Bash League (BBL) is one of the most popular T20 Men’s championships in the world. And it is also famous with regards to its innovation. Cricket Australia keeps adding twists and turns to its cricket laws to make it interesting for the fans.

Recently, ahead of the 11th BBL season, the tournament has introduced three new BBL rules_ Power Surge, Bash Boost and X-Factor. The sole purpose of that was to make the 40 over innings more attractive for the fans and challenging for the players.

1. Timed-Out Rule in BBL
2. Power Surge Rule in BBL
3. X-Factor Player Rule in BBL
4. Bash Boost in BBL
5. BBL Basics

Timed-Out Rule in BBL

Though we’re not counting this timed-out rule as a new addition, Cricket Australia did make a new change in this old law. Ahead of the 2021-22 BBL season, the timing for the timed-out rule was changed and now the new player has to be at his crease before 60 seconds after a batter has retired or balled out.

And if he fails to comply with the new timings, he will be asked to stand parallel to the stumps and the bowler will deliver the ball. If the ball hits the stumps, the batter is out. However, if he misses, the batter can continue to play. Although the timing and the ruling are under discussion yet, everyone agrees that the game needs to speed up.

Power Surge Rule in BBL

Among all three new BBL rules, we felt ‘Power Surge’ is the most innovative of all. And here’s why.

It’s an interesting new law which isn’t similar to the traditional power play. And as per this new rule, the batting team can call for the ‘Power Surge’ any time from the 11th over onwards. It’s a two-over period allowing them to score more runs or stabilise their situation.

Here the bowling team is then allowed only two fielders outside the 30-yard inner circle. And the rest 9 must remain inside the fielding circle. However, they can change their intended bowler at the call of the Power Surge, if they wish to.

And it’s only a myth that Power Surge is a rule in favour of the batting side. Statistics have shown that the bowlers are taking equal wickets to the batters scoring runs during this extra period. And the primary objective to introduce this law is to add some tactics to the power play.

However, like all other changes in the traditional rules, this BBL new rule has also met with mixed responses. And we are voting in favour of it as it’s a new element to the same old law.

X-Factor Player Rule in BBL

Now, this is the rule that has created the most buzz around. X-Factor BBL rule has allowed Big Bash teams to keep 12th and 13th players, aside from their playing XI. And then, they can replace any of their players with either of these substitutes at the end of the 10th over of their first innings.

To note, the team can only pick one of these substitutes and not both. In fact, still, there are some conditions that a replaced player has to meet.

He must not have batted before
He must not have bowled more than one over
And if the bowler meets all of these conditions, he can continue to take part in the game. He is allowed to bowl a maximum of four overs and shoot his runs in the batting lineup.

Further, as we mentioned in the very beginning, this BBL rule has created the most highlight and is the most criticised one. It was introduced ahead of the 2020/2021 season but it wasn’t adopted by the teams immediately. And it took 8 games until an X-Factor Substitution was being made.

To date, mostly the fielding side is making use of these new BBL rules, as they change their poor-performing bowlers with the X-Factor substitutes. Or if they see, they’ve picked mostly the spinners, they can change one with a slow bowler or vice versa. However, the batting side can make use of this rule as well.

But, it is also a letdown for the morale of the playing XI. As many believe, if you’ve picked a team you must stick to it. And if your team is not performing well, it is now your method of selection and there must not be a u-turn. And we cannot agree more. Anyways, this Big Bash rule is another distinction for the Big Bash League.

Bash Boost in BBL

One of the Big Bash new rules is Bash Boost. It’s basically a bonus point given to the best performing team. And here’s all about the criteria.

So, we call Bash Boost a consolation point more than a bonus point, as teams performing low can still claim their bonus point (if they scored fast in 10 overs of their innings). Bash Boost is given to the team with a comparatively high score at the conclusion of the 10th over of their second innings. So, it’s decided at the end of the 10th over of the second innings for each team.

And just like all other new rules, it has received a mixed response from the critics. Anyways, we loved it, as it still adds a fun twist to a dead game.

BBL Basics

No matter whether it’s the new Big Bash League rules or the same old ones, BBL is a T20 league after all. So, its basics are going to remain the same where two opponent teams with 11 players each will face each other with their primary objective of taking wickets and scoring runs.

Then, at the end of the match, the one with the most runs taken will be crowned the winner.

Scoring Runs

Runs are scored by the batters standing at the two opposite ends of the pitch. Both of them will stand behind their respective white lines (the crease). And then, the one that faces the baller is supposed to hit the ball in space away from the fielders. This is followed by each batter running towards the opposite white line to score as many runs as he can before the balls hit the stumps.

Taking Wickets

Bowlers in a game are supposed to bowl and take wickets. Their main objective is to end the innings of their opposite batter or to at least not let them score high.

Setting the Field

It is the captain that sets the field. However, still, he has to abide by some rules. For instance, only two fielders are allowed outside the inner yard for the first 6 overs. And later, if the captain wishes, three more can move outfield.