Cricket: Why SuperSubs fail to surface

Although Jacob Oram is an allrounder suited to a SuperSub role, his team prefers to use him for the full duration. Picture / Chris Skelton

Rival skippers Ricky Ponting and Daniel Vettori at least agree on one aspect of the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series: they're both uneasy about the experimental SuperSub and PowerPlay conditions.

Introduced earlier this year as a 10-month trial, the experimental rules allow captains to use a full substitution after the toss and extend the usual 15 overs of fielding restrictions to 20 overs, the last 10 of which can be used by the fielding captain in five-over blocks.

The initiatives, to be reviewed by the ICC next June, were apparently designed to make the one-day game more interesting but have run foul of most international skippers and players, including Ponting and Vettori.

The biggest concern about the SuperSub rule is the requirement to name the extra player before the toss, meaning teams have to decide between employing an all-rounder who can lend himself to either batting or bowling or employing a specialist and simply gambling on the toss.

The concept of PowerPlays has also raised eyebrows, mainly because the extra five overs of fielding restrictions appear to be just more of the same and nothing that's likely to add an extra edge to proceedings.

Vettori said this week that the SuperSub opportunity was almost designed to encourage teams to play more all-rounders but that New Zealand - already with two top all-rounders in Chris Cairns and Jacob Oram - were disadvantaged and forced to gamble with specialists.

The stand-in New Zealand skipper reasoned that, although the balance provided by Oram and Cairns was well-suited to a SuperSub role, his team preferred to use them for the full duration as they were both highly influential in both disciplines.

"I suppose I look at it from our point of view and our abundance of allrounders," Vettori said. "It's a strange one because if you bring a bowler into the side you've got seven to eight bowlers to choose from and you've almost got too many.

"If you bring a batter into the side, then Brendon McCullum's at nine, I'm at 10 and James Franklin's 11.

"Probably one of the advantages we've had in the past is that we could call on those allrounders and put them into a team of 11.

"So from our point of view it's a tough one, and I probably disagree with it."

As for the PowerPlays, Vettori was similarly nonplussed, saying the new rule only reinforced the slant towards batsmen and making runs and removed much of the tactical and strategic battle through the middle overs of the innings.

"I don't see a lot of point to the PowerPlays really," he said. "I certainly don't enjoy them as a bowler. I think they make it harder for the spinners.

"I also think captains are just trying to get through them as quickly as possible as opposed to using them in any advantageous way.

"That's probably not what they were designed for, but that's basically what they've become.

"I enjoyed the 15-over limit. It was a nice sort of balance.

"I've bowled a lot during the 15 over to 40 over stage of games, and I think it was one of the most skilful parts of the contest for both batting and bowling."

Ponting had similar feelings about the experimental laws, saying they needed to be changed if they were going to be approved next year but that he personally had little time for them.

His biggest beef was the need to name the SuperSub before the toss, and he was also unconvinced about the PowerPlays.

"To be able to name your sub after the toss would work better for everybody," he said. "As it stands, it can be too much of an advantage for the team that wins the toss.

"The side that wins the toss will have obviously picked their sub on the way they want to use him. On the other hand, the team that loses the toss can be stuck with not having that option, which makes it almost 12 against 11."

Ponting said he also believed that if the authorities were going to continue with the PowerPlays, they should give some of the control to the batting side.

"To have the batting team pick a time that they want a PowerPlay and the fielding side pick a time that they want a PowerPlay could be another option. I don't know how long they're planning on using these current rules for, but in their present form I'd probably say scrap them."

SuperSubs

* Each team can use one substitute, who may bat or bowl as well as field.

* They must name a 12-man team at the toss and nominate who will be the "SuperSub".

* That player is eligible to bat and bowl and come on at any time during the match.

* He can bowl the remaining overs left by the replaced player.

* The replaced player cannot take part in any part of the remainder of the game.

* Any number of fielding substitutes can still be used in case of injury, as before.

* All 12 players gain a one-day international cap for the records.

Fielding restrictions

* The old rules with 15 overs subject to fielding restrictions are replaced by three blocks totalling 20 overs.

* During the first 10 overs, now known as PowerPlay 1, only two fielders may be outside the fielding circle, and at least two must be in catching positions.

* Two more blocks of five overs, known as PowerPlay 2 and PowerPlay 3, are available to the fielding captain at any time with the same rules applying but must be used in 50-over innings.