ICC Cricket Rules: We are seeing a plethora of changes in the world of cricket with new leagues popping up every day to the introduction of fantasy in it. Now, new regulations for international cricket are introduced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday that is to be applied from October 1. The revised regulations will be used at the Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia to be held next month. The changed rules were suggested by the Ganguly-led Men’s Cricket Committee which MCC updated in the third edition of the 2017 Code of the Laws of Cricket.

One of the new regulations is that an entering batsman in Tests and ODIs must be prepared to take a strike within two minutes. After a player is out caught, a new batter will take the strike, even if they crossed the other batter before the catch was taken among others.

The Playing Conditions for all Men’s and Women’s ODI and T20I games will be changed to permit the usage of hybrid pitches if both sides agree. Only women’s T20I matches may currently use hybrid pitches.

The ICC Cricket Rules As Mentioned by ICC Are As Follows:

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. 

Use of saliva to polish the ball: 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.

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 a 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 into the 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 Playing Conditions follow the Laws in moving this method of effecting a Run out from the ‘Unfair Play’ section to the ‘Run out’ section.

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.

Following the changes, Sourav Ganguly said, “It was an honor chairing my first meeting of the ICC Cricket Committee. I was pleased with the productive contribution of the Committee members which resulted in key recommendations being made. I thank all members for their valuable input and suggestions.”