Date-stamped : 15 Sep94 - 10:31
TAYLOR URGES SET RULES FOR LIMITED OVER GAMES

COLOMBO, Wednesday: Australian captain Mark Taylor today  renewed
the intermittent call for the same playing conditions for one-day
cricket around the world.

"I think every captain and probably every side in  world  cricket
would be sure that one set of rules would make it a hell of a lot
easier for everyone," Taylor said.  "It  would  save us   talking
about the local rules in every country."

Yesterday`s case in point was  the  so-called  "rain-rule".  Aus-
tralia  batted  first, and made 6-225 from their full quota of 50
overs, in the match against Sri Lanka at the Saravanamuttu Stadi-
um.  But  when  lunchtime  rain reduced Sri Lanka`s innings to 36
overs, their target was reset, according to the average run  rate
of  Australia`s  innings  (4.5), to 164. Sri Lanka won with eight
balls remaining.

It was decided long ago in  Australia  that  this  rule  unfairly
disadvantaged  the  team batting first. After a number of experi-
ments, a rule was drafted whereby the team batting second  in   a
rain  interrupted  match  must  score  as many  as the equivalent
number of highest scoring overs in the first team`s innings, less
0.5  percent  per  over lost. Yesterday, Sri Lanka`s target would
have been 192.

"I think any rule`s better than the one we used yesterday,"  Tay-
lor  said. "This one just does not work for the team that happens
to bowl second when it rains, as it  did  yesterday.   Definitely
the rain rule is one they`ve got to look at standardising."

Taylor also said there needed to be a universal  rule  about  how
long  a team had to bowl its 50 overs and what happened if it did
not. In this tournament, the innings of the  team batting   first
terminates after 215 minutes and the team batting second receives
an identical number of overs. This gives scope for a bowling team
that is being thumped in the first innings to slow the match, ac-
cept the token fine and press for victory when it bats.

In Australia, the team that does not complete its overs  in  time
must  bowl  them  out anyway, have a fine levied on it, then face
only as many overs as it had bowled in the allotted time.

"If all the boards got together to  get  standardised  rules  and
said easier for everyone," Taylor said.

Taylor`s remarks were not a case  of  sour  grapes,  for  he  was
espousing universal playing conditions even before the tournament
started. He felt the pre-tournament meeting between captains  and
referee  Cammie Smith to discuss and clarify local playing condi-
tions was a waste of everyone`s time, and might have been avoided
if there were standardised conditions.

Taylor also said, the rain rule notwithstanding, Australia  could
have   won   yesterday`s  match if they had fielded better.  They
had let through too many soft runs and missed a  couple of   run-
outs they  would have expected to make with more match-hardening.
However, he  was  pleased with the development  of  the   batsmen
and  bowlers, and said that one benefit of not reaching the final
here would be that Australia could move more speedily into  "Test
match mode".

Thanks Greg Baum, Sydney Morning Herald.
<END> Contributed by David.Mar (mar@Physics.su.OZ.AU)