Authorities fine 44 Big Bash players

A whopping 44 players have been fined and four captains are on the brink of suspension after the opening matches of the Big Bash competitions. 

Cricket Australia announced the men's Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars teams as well as the women's Melbourne Renegades and Adelaide Strikers teams were all stung for slow over rates.

Each team was deemed one over short in their respective matches, triggering fines for every member of the playing XI – $1000 per player for the men's teams, and $250 for the women's. 

That fine can be halved if the team accepts the penalty without appeal. 

A strike is also recorded against each captain's name, and a second slow over rate offence this season will see them suspended for a game, as happened to Brisbane Heat skipper Brendon McCullum in the later stages of BBL|06 last summer.

In the KFC BBL, Sixers skipper Moises Henriques and the Stars' John Hastings now each have a strike against their name. It was Hastings’ first match as the Melbourne Stars captain following the retirement of Dave Hussey. 

For the Rebel WBBL clubs, Adelaide captain Suzie Bates and Renegades skipper Amy Satterthwaite will be suspended if their teams fall foul of over rates again this season. 

The Sixers lost the opening match of BBL|07 in a final-ball thriller to cross-town rivals the Sydney Thunder, while the Stars went down to the Brisbane Heat at the Gabba on Wednesday night. 

In the WBBL|03, the Strikers sit second on the ladder with three wins from four games, including the one-run win against the Renegades on December 16, the match that earned the side their slow over-rate penalty.

The teams met again the following day, with the Renegades reversing the result for a nine-run win but also earned themselves their slow over-rate penalty.