How the new Big Bash League rules have gone so far

The Power Surge

The 'Power Surge' is a two-over period during which the fielding team is allowed only two players outside the inner fielding circle. The batting side can call for this at any point from the 11th over of their innings. The fielding restrictions replicate those of the usual Powerplay at the beginning of an innings, which has been shortened to four overs. The Surge must be called by the batting side at the start of an over, and the fielding side can change their bowler once the Surge has been called.

The Power Surge looked set to be a boon for batters and a nightmare for bowling captains and when the very first Power Surge over of the season, delivered by Sydney Sixers spinner Stephen O'Keefe, was smashed for 19 runs, all signs pointed that way.

But in fact, the Power Surge has surprisingly helped deliver bowlers more wickets.

In nine games to start BBL|10, wickets have fallen at a rate of one every 10.5 deliveries while runs have come at 10.24 an over, making the approximate average score for a completed two-over Surge 1-20.

But results have fluctuated significantly, with the Sixers achieving the best Surge score of 1-32 against the Renegades and Hurricanes returning 3-13 in their Surge against the Strikers.

In that opening game of the summer, the Sixers hit 18 off their two Power Surge overs but craved more and James Vince was dismissed in the over after the restrictions had eased.

Only five of 15 Power Surges have yielded no wickets.

"We thought if we could take it, we could get the (required run) rate right down and get ahead in the game, but it actually had the opposite effect," Vince told Fox Cricket.

"They bowled well and we couldn't really get them away, then we lost some momentum."

Perhaps that trend could have been foreseen.

While the fifth and sixth overs had previously been regarded as the most difficult ones to bowl, a high number of wickets also fell during those final two overs of the old Powerplay.

Now with no fielding restrictions in place for those overs, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of wickets falling. Dismissals during those overs peaked at an average of 0.61 per innings in BBL|03 and BBL|04 but sits at 0.28 this season, while an average of 0.89 wickets have fallen in the Power Surge overs later in the innings.

That could have something to do with different types of bowlers now bowling those overs.

"It's certainly given the captains a bit more to think about and it adds a dimension," Sydney Thunder skipper Callum Ferguson said of the Power Surge rules.

"You've got to try and make sure you've got enough overs of your best death (bowlers) up your sleeve for when they take the Surge at the back end of an innings. So it perhaps does change the way you would have used your bowlers (compared to) in the past.

"I think it's going to evolve as well and we'll see trends start to pop up, but I think at this stage everyone is feeling it out a little bit and seeing what works for them."

Teams have certainly paid attention how the rest of the competition are using the new rules and the increased Power Surge wickets may have been a factor in the Melbourne Stars electing not to take it when they chased down the Brisbane Heat's modest total of 125 with almost three overs to spare.

"I was certainly glad we were able to watch a game first,” said Stars skipper Glenn Maxwell when asked about all three of the new rules.

"I was messaging 'Huss' (coach David Hussey) all the way through it and after the game I thought I knew how I wanted to set up our team through it.

"Being able to watch other teams go about it and see them either do it well or see them make mistakes, you're able to set it up."

The X-Factor

An 'X-Factor Player', named as either the 12th or 13th player on the team sheet, can come into the game beyond the 10th over of the first innings and replace any player who is yet to bat, or has bowled no more than one over. A replacement player can bowl a maximum allotment of four overs, even if the player they've replaced has bowled.

It took eight games for this new rule to finally be utilised before both the Strikers and Hurricanes pulled the trigger in their match in Launceston on Tuesday night.

After Adelaide’s seamers found prodigious movement early on and picked up three wickets in the opening four overs of the match, the belief that the pitch would favour the fast men was validated when Adelaide spinner Danny Briggs was hit for 15 from his one over, the ninth of the innings.

At the 10-over mark, both teams removed a spinner from their side – Briggs and Johan Botha were taken out of the game – and brought in extra batting firepower in the form of Matt Short (Strikers) and Mac Wright (Hurricanes).

While taking the extra spin options out of the game made sense, there was some surprise – including from Ricky Ponting in commentary – that both teams boosted their batting instead of bringing in Cam Valente (Strikers) or Nick Winter (Hurricanes) to add more seam-bowling firepower on a favourable surface.

"On that wicket I thought it was going to be difficult chasing (so) to have that extra batter was going to be more important than having that extra finger spinner,” Adelaide skipper Alex Carey said after the game.

“I think we summed it pretty well. It's never easy for a guy to be subbed out of the game but Briggsy took it really well. It was my decision. I had it in the back of my mind if he we were bowling first … I went with my gut and I was happy with how it all turned out."

Both X-Factor players played a role in the game, albeit they didn’t have a major impact. Wright made 15 from 14 balls for the Hurricanes while Short bowled one over of off-spin that conceded eight runs and was dismissed for a first-ball duck.

It’s also worth noting that finger spinner Matthew Renshaw, who helped cover the overs Briggs would have bowled had he remained in the side, conceded 30 runs from his two overs.

The Stars also called for an X-Factor against the Scorchers on Wednesday, removing leg-spinner Tom O’Connell (one over for 15) and boosting their batting by bringing in Ben Dunk, although the impact of that move could not be determined because the game was eventually washed out.

The Scorchers' horror batting collapse against the Renegades last Saturday, where they lost five wickets inside the opening nine overs, created a scenario where they could have replaced a bowler in their side with an extra batter to rescue their spluttering innings.

But the fact the Scorchers had named bowlers Joel Paris and Corey Roccicioli as their X-Factor options instead of choosing one bowler and a batter like Sam Whiteman or Kurtis Patterson – who were left out of their squad of 13 completely – meant the option to boost their batting after the early collapse wasn't available to them.

Coach Adam Voges said a fear of depleting his bowling meant he would have been reluctant to sub in a batter even if he had one available, and skipper Ashton Turner said “we're still getting our head around it and trying to figure out a way we can best utilise the rule changes”.

In Perth’s next match, against the Stars on Tuesday, they named batter Patterson and fast bowler Matt Kelly as their X-Factor options.

The Bash Boost

The Bash Boost is a bonus point awarded halfway through the second innings. The team chasing will receive the bonus point if they're above the equivalent 10-over score of their opposition, while if they're trailing, the fielding side will receive the point. Teams will also now be awarded three points for winning the match, as opposed to the traditional two.

The Bash Boost played a role right from the start of the season when the Sixers claimed the extra point before going on to lose the game, meaning they still got on the board in BBL|10 despite having not registered a win.

In fact, several teams have lost early wickets in their run chase and, with victory seemingly out of reach, have instead set their sights on the point at the 10-over mark, although none have been able to achieve their target.

Interestingly, while two teams that did openly target the Bash Boost point – the Strikers against the Hurricanes and the Thunder against the Heat – didn’t achieve it, they did enjoy a boost to their run rate that turned the momentum of their innings.

The Strikers were in huge trouble at 6-51 at the end of the ninth over chasing 175 to win and, needing 19 runs from the 10th over to claim a point, managed to get 17, including a six from tail-ender Dan Worrall.

While the Strikers fell short of the Bash Boost point, Worrall took the momentum gained and pushed on to produce an extraordinary innings of 62 not out that incredibly brought the Strikers to within 12 runs of victory in a game that looked all but lost.

Similarly, the Thunder’s decision to target the Bash Boost after seven overs of their stumbling run chase against the Heat gave them the impetus they needed to pull off a stunning victory.

An injured Alex Ross was given a license to target the bonus point and after the Thunder took a total of 21 runs from the seventh and eighth overs, the momentum of the game shifted and they rode an extraordinary innings from Daniel Sams to victory in the penultimate over of the match.

The Bash Boost also contributed to the biggest victory margin the history of the competition, with the Renegades falling 145 runs short of the Sixers after an early batting collapse saw them target the extra point in an effort to salvage something from the game.

Four wickets down inside five overs in pursuit of 206 to win, the Renegades threw caution to the wind and ended up being bowled out for just 60 inside 11 overs, falling well short of both the Bash Boost point and the win.

Coach Michael Klinger defended his side’s tactics following the early collapse but was unsure if their heavy defeat and early finish to a match that would have otherwise petered out was a good thing for the game.

"The hard thing is, I don't know if it's the greatest spectacle,” Klinger said. “But at the same time it gives good content for the commentators and broadcasters to talk about.

“I haven't seen any of the footage, so I'm not sure how it (the chase) came across ... The discussion was 'is a point more important, or net run-rate?' Obviously we didn't get either. If we were one, two down we could have taken the game deep."