Former International Cricket umpire Mick Martell believe penalties are the only solution for slow over rates across all levels of cricket.

All three formats of cricket are battling with the issue of slow over rates, which has stirred much debate and controversy over the past few years.

In Test cricket, the required 90 overs in a day have seemed to become optional, while white ball matches have run over time simply because the over have not been bowled in their allocated time.

A slow over rate penalty in Test cricket include point deductions and five per cent of their match fees, which could be the difference between qualifying for the World Test Championship final or being knocked out.

Over the past 12 months we’ve seen players puch back against the slow over rate systems, including English captain Ben Stokes who refused to sign the slow over rate sheet for their series against New Zealand – citing a lack of communication from the ICC.

Others, like Mitchell Starc believe there are other factors outside of bowlers getting to their mark including DRS, captains tactical changes and longer drinks breaks that affect over rates at Test level.

Despite the players opposition to over rate penalty systems, Martell believes the penalties provide incentive to keep the game moving.

“Penalty is about the only way that you can do it, heavy penalty on the team,” he told SportFM.

“I know with suburban turf that has been introduced this year to try and keep the game flowing, heavy penalty rates, slow overs and we had a couple of issues in the first round or two, but now it’s cleaned up.”

“The players are on to it, the captains are on to it, and it’s cleaned up. We get through our overs each day.”

“But it’s a problem right through every level of cricket. We have problems with the over rates. But the allowances they allow is, now they get the time allowance to tie up their shoes.”

In nearly every game outside the subcontinent where spin bowling is more prevalent, the issue of over rates tends to be more prevalent. The nature of spin bowling enables sides to get through overs much quicker, unlike seam bowling which naturally takes more time.

Additionally, the amount of wickets lost within an innings can also have a say on how quickly the overs are bowled through. However, batsmen do have a time limit imposed on them to get to the crease, which if not met, they’re timed out.

Martell suggested bowlers and the fielding side have a similar time limit to batsmen to ensure over rates are met.

“I watched a Shield game the other week that came down the last over,” he said.

“The amount of time captains and bowlers would take, I think at one stage there was four guys all around the bowlers trying to decide what sort of a field they’re going to set for the last over. That must have taken a good three minutes before that over started.

“Batsmen are on time, they can be timed out if they don’t get to the middle and take guard on time, maybe we should put something around the bowlers as well.”

IMAGE: Cricket NSW