ICC announces new cricket rules, makes saliva ban permanent

The ICC had earlier barred use of saliva to shine the ball in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Custodian of cricket laws, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in March had completely banned its application in its amendments to the 2022 code.

“This prohibition has been in place for over two years in international cricket as a Covid-related temporary measure and it is considered appropriate for the ban to be made permanent,” the ICC said in a statement.

Notable changes

Batters returning when caught: When a batter is out Caught, the new batter will come in at the end the striker was, regardless of whether the batters crossed prior to the catch being taken.

Incoming batter ready to face the ball: An incoming batter will now be required to be ready to take strike within two minutes in Tests and ODIs, while the current threshold of ninety seconds in T20Is remains unchanged.

Striker’s right to play the ball: This is restricted so as to require some part of their bat or person to remain within the pitch. Should they venture beyond that, the umpire will call and signal Dead ball. Any ball which would force the batter to leave the pitch will also be called No ball.

Unfair movement by the fielding side: Any unfair and deliberate movement while the bowler is running in to bowl could now result in the umpire awarding five penalty runs to the batting side, in addition to a call of Dead ball.

Running out of the non-striker: The ICC said the playing conditions will follow “the Laws in moving this method of effecting a Run out from the ‘Unfair Play’ section to the ‘Run out’ section.” Earlier, running out a non-striker for backing up too much was considered unfair but such dismissals have often triggered heated debates on spirit of the game with several players such as off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin advocating for it as a fair mode of dismissal.

The dismissal was famously dubbed a “Mankad” named after India bowler who ran out Australia batsman Bill Brown in the 1948 Sydney Test.

Bowler throwing towards striker’s end before delivery: Previously, a bowler who saw the batter advancing down the wicket before entering their delivery stride, could throw the ball to attempt to Run out the striker. This practice will now be called a Dead ball.

Other major decisions: The in-match penalty introduced in T20Is in January 2022, (whereby the failure of a fielding team to bowl their overs by the scheduled cessation time leads to an additional fielder having to be brought inside the fielding circle for the remaining overs of the innings), will now also be adopted in ODI matches after the completion of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League in 2023.

It was also decided that the Playing Conditions for all Men’s and Women’s ODI and T20I matches will be amended to allow hybrid pitches to be used, if agreed by both teams. Currently, hybrid pitches can only be used in Women’s T20I matches.