The International Cricket Council (ICC) is about to make a bunch of changes to its playing conditions which will be effective in all series starting 28 September or later.
The notable changes comprise of a restriction on the dimensions of the bat, the introduction of player send-offs for level 4 misconduct and changes to the Decision Review System. All the above-stated changes will come into effect in two upcoming Test series – when South Africa hosts Bangladesh and the one between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates.
The ICC playing conditions will now also include the appropriate clauses from the MCC Laws of Cricket (2017 Code), which actually means that the playing regulations will be apprehended in one document for each format.
Talking about the same, ICC General Manager, Geoff Allardice said: “Most of the changes to the ICC playing conditions are being made as a result of changes to the Laws of Cricket that have been announced by the MCC. We have just completed a workshop with the umpires to ensure they understand all of the changes and we are now ready to introduce the new playing conditions to international matches.”
The restrictions on the size of the bat have been made in order to maintain the balance between bat and ball. The restriction on the length and width of bats remain unchanged but according to new conditions the edges can’t be more than 40mm and the overall depth can be 67 mm at the most. In upcoming days, the umpires will be issued with a new bat gauge, which they can use to check a bat’s legitimacy.
One of the new playing conditions also is in regards to players’ conduct, a player can now be sent off the field for the rest of the match for any serious misconduct if he/she commits Level 4 offences while the Level 1 to 3 offences will continue to be administered with under the ICC Code of Conduct.
The above changes will be applicable across all formats along with the change in the DRS rules by which a review will now not be lost in case of a decision that remains unchanged, undividedly as the result of an ‘umpire’s call’. And there will be no more top-up reviews after 80 overs of an innings, meaning that there can only be two unsuccessful reviews in each innings, while the DRS will now also be allowed to be used in T20Is.
Another important change revolves around run outs and it deals with if the batsman is running or diving towards the crease with forward moment has grounded his/her bat behind the popping crease but afterward has lost contact with the ground at the time of the bails come off, the batsman will not be run out. The same interpretation will also apply for a batsman trying to regain his/her ground to avoid being stumped.
For boundary catches, airborne fielders making their first contact with the ball will need to have taken off from within the boundary, otherwise a boundary will be scored.
Also, a batsman can now be out caught, stumped or run out even if the ball bounces off the helmet worn by a fielder or wicket-keeper.
