BBL 2020 | Can’t seem to get my head around the new BBL rules, expresses Shane Watson 

BBL 2020 | Can’t seem to get my head around the new BBL rules, expresses Shane Watson 

Shane Watson has expressed that he is amazed by the people who are trying to fix what is not broken and he can’t seem to get his head around the new BBL rules. Usman Khawaja agreed with Watson’s opinion and insisted that the BBL rule changes will make an already complex game even more complex.

On Monday, the BBL announced three new rules in an attempt to make the league more entertaining, namely “Power Surge”, “X-Factor” and “Bash Boost”. This move was motivated by the fact that the tournament hasn’t been financially lucrative in the recent seasons, where they have struggled to appeal to the fans with the absence of many Australian stars. While it is yet to be determined if the rules will a success, former Australian player Shane Watson has expressed his views against the changes. 

Shane Watson, who recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, insisted that the BBL didn’t need to make those changes and it would end in a ‘misguided attempt to re-invigorate the tournament’. He added that he is amazed at the people trying to fix what is not broken and he can’t get his head around the new rules. 

“I read today that the BBL is introducing these new gimmicks, such as the ‘Power Surge’, the ‘X Factor Player’ and the ‘Bash Boost’ in a misguided attempt to re-invigorate the tournament. I just can’t seem to get my head around why there are people out there who are trying to re-invent the wheel when the wheel was not broken. It just had hit a little rocky ground, in which some really simple measures that were already put in place, would create a slipstream back to the very top again,” Watson said as quoted by cricket.com.au.  

Watson stated that these ‘Science Experiments’ will increase the complexity for everyone involved as it has not been tested at the lower levels. 

“The complexities that these new ‘Science Experiments’ are going to create for the viewers, let alone the players and coaches, when none of these have been tried and tested at lower levels, have really taken the wind out of my sails,” he said. 

Agreeing with Watson, Khawaja too was sceptical about the new rules, insisting that cricket is already a complicated game for the newcomer and we shouldn’t complicate it further.

“So had a day to think about new BBL rules. My biggest issue is that the BBL is all about (and great at) getting new people involved whom have never played,” tweeted Khawaja on his official Twitter account. “But the rule changes complicate what’s already a very complicated game (for newcomers). Shouldn’t we be going the other way around?” Khawaja said.  

It would be interesting to see if the new rule changes are able to help the tournament in terms of getting eyeballs or else they will have another problem to handle on their hands. 

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all