LOCAL cricket moves into a new phase today with the start of the first Twenty20 competition under the auspices of the Barbados Cricket Association.

Seven matches will bowl off at 2:30 p.m. in the Sagicor General-sponsored tournament that will be played in keeping with most of the regulations for the extra short form of the game.

One innovation is the addition of a bowl-out to decide the outcome of matches in which the scores are tied.

Under the rules of a bowl-out, each captain shall nominate five players who will bowl alternately at the stumps without the presence of a batsman.

After all ten players have bowled, the team which has hit the stumps the greater number of times wins the match.

Penalties

Another new rule is penalties for teams bowling first that fail to bowl their 20 overs before the scheduled cut-off time at 3:50 p.m.

If it is the match referee's opinion the fault lies with the team bowling first, a penalty of four runs per over or part thereof bowled after the scheduled time of cessation shall be added to the target score of the team bowling first.

Among the other common Twenty20 regulations that will be applied are free hits following foot fault no-balls.

Another is that batsmen could be timed out if they are not ready to take guard within 90 seconds after the dismissal of the preceding batsman.

Rules issued to teams over the past few weeks have inadvertently omitted how revised target scores are calculated in the event rain forces a reduction in the number of overs available to the team batting second.

Calculations

Organisers pointed out yesterday that the calculation will be based on run-rate per over. For the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, the targets will be determined by Duckworth/Lewis calculations.

The first-round matches in this competition are a duplicate of the first-round matches in the Division 1 and Sagicor General Super Cup competitions with identical line-ups and venues.

The match between BDFSP and Sagicor UWI, however, will be played on July 6 owing to the rescheduling of their Division 1 match to accommodate UWI's presence at the recent West Indies Players' Association Twenty20 competition in Trinidad.

The Division 1 match between the teams started yesterday and will continue today.

Today's Twenty 20 matches:

Zone A: Oran/Carib Bristol v ESA Field Pickwick at Old Coleridge; Cable & Wireless v Wanderers at Wildey; Banks v Maple at the Brewery.

Zone B: Police v Super Centre Spartan at Weymouth 'A'; Guardian General Barbados Youth v Carib Carlton at Cane Garden, Caribbean Lumber YMPC v BRC BCL at Beckles Road; ICBL Empire v BNB St Catherine at Bank Hall. Playing times: 2:30 p.m. – 3:50 p.m.; 4:05 p.m. – 5:25 p.m.