The only time anyone can hit cruise in a fight is to flee. As soon as that happens everyone else is free to hit cruise and pursue.
I like the idea of it being one of the drawbacks on large capships. It also encourages people to fly with some fighter class ships as escort.
Your escorts should know your capabilities and you should all be organized. Escorts should know to, from time to time, evade back to the BS and not continue the fight farther and farther away from the BS. They should also know to inform the BS when their opponent hits cruise so it can enter cruise and pursue.
It is all about communication and not flying around all by yourself in a BS.
