Cricket Gets a Makeover: ICC Announces Significant Rule Changes

Dubai (The Uttam Hindu): The ICC has recently approved several changes to its playing rules for men's international cricket, including the boundary catch rule and the use of only one ball from the 35th over in ODIs. Some of these rules have already come into effect in the new cycle of the World Test Championship (2025-27), while the rules for white-ball cricket will come into effect from July 2. Based on the information of the rules shared by the ICC with member countries, ESPN Cricinfo is here to give information about the main changes in all three formats.

Stop Clock in Test Cricket

A year after the introduction of the stop clock in white-ball formats, the ICC has decided to implement it in Test cricket as well, as slow over rates have long been a problem with this format. According to this rule, the fielding team has to be ready for the next over within one minute of the end of the previous over. If they do not do so, the umpires will give two warnings. After this, a penalty of five runs will be imposed on the bowling team. The warnings will be reset after every 80 overs. The clock will count from 0 to 60. This rule has already come into effect from the start of the 2025-27 WTC cycle.

Ball change not mandatory on deliberate use of saliva

The ban on applying saliva on the ball continues, but now the ICC has said that if saliva is found on the ball, it will not be mandatory for the umpires to change the ball immediately. This change has been made so that teams do not apply saliva on the ball to get it changed intentionally. Now the ball will be changed only if there is a major change in its condition, like it is too wet or has extra shine. This has been left completely to the discretion of the umpire. If the umpire decides that the condition of the ball did not change due to saliva, but the ball started doing something special later, even then it will not be changed. However, five runs will be given to the batting team.

DRS protocol for second appeal after out decision

Imagine – a batsman is given caught out and he takes a review. Ultra Edge shows that the ball touched the pad and not the bat. When the caught out is ruled out, the TV umpire then checks for LBW by another method and confirms it with ball-tracking. In the system till now, if the caught out is ruled out, the default decision in case of LBW was considered as 'not out', i.e. if the ball-tracking shows 'umpire's call' then the batsman is not out. In the new rule, the 'original decision' label on the ball-tracking graphic for LBW will show 'out'. If the result is 'umpire's call' then the batsman will be considered out.

Sequential checking of decisions

The ICC has changed the process of joint reviews, where both an umpire and a player have taken reviews. Decisions will now be taken in the order they occurred. Previously, the TV umpire would take the umpire's review first, then the player's. As per the revised Rule 3.9, "If the batsman is declared out in the first instance, the ball will be deemed dead at that point and the second instance will not need to be checked." For example, if there are appeals for both LBW and runout, the TV umpire will check LBW first as that happened first. If the batsman is out, the ball will be deemed dead.

Checking the fairness of the catch in case of a no-ball

Suppose the on-field umpires are not sure whether the catch was taken clean or not, then the TV umpire declares that it was a no-ball. In the old rules, there was no need to check the catch as soon as a no-ball was declared. As per the new rules, now the third umpire will check the catch. If the catch was clean, then the batting team will only get the extra run for the no-ball. If the catch was not clean, then the runs taken by the batsmen will be added.

Intentional short run

Till now, if a batsman was caught taking a short run, then a penalty of five runs was imposed on the team. In the new rules, if a batsman is found deliberately not reaching the crease with the intention of stealing a run, then the umpire will ask the fielding team which batsman will be on strike on the next ball. The penalty of five runs will continue. According to rule 18.5.1, "Intentional short run means, when batsmen try to take more than one run and at least one batsman deliberately does not reach the crease at his end." If the batsman leaves the run midway and the umpire believes that he did not intend to cheat, then there will be no penalty.

Full-time substitutes in domestic first-class cricket

If a player suffers a serious external injury, the ICC has asked member boards to trial full-time substitutes for such players in domestic first-class cricket. The substitute should be of the same type as in the case of a concussion substitute. There must be clear and visible evidence of the injury so that match officials can give approval. This rule will not apply to cases of hamstring strains or minor injuries. This rule will be implemented on a trial basis and is entirely at the discretion of member countries to implement it.