The International Cricket Council (ICC) has introduced some changes to the playing conditions in men’s cricket. While some rules have come into play with the commencement of the 2025–27 World Test Championship cycle, the ones that will apply to the shorter formats — ODIs and T20Is — will be effective from July 2, 2025.
Stop clock in Tests
To counter the long-standing problem of slow over rate, the ICC had introduced a stop clock in white-ball cricket. It has now extended the same rule to Test cricket.
According to the rule, the fielding side must be ready to start an over within a minute of the previous one. They will receive two warnings from the umpires. If they fail to comply, the umpires will impose a five-run penalty. Warnings will reset to zero after every 80 overs. The clock will count upwards — from 0 to 60.
No mandatory ball change for deliberate use of saliva
There is a ban on the use of saliva, but if the bowling team are found to have applied saliva on the ball and ask for a ball change, the ball will not be changed by the umpires.
This change has been introduced to avoid a scenario where teams trying to force a ball change deliberately apply saliva on it. So, going forward, the umpires will only change the ball if its condition has been changed drastically — case in point, if the ball gets too wet or there’s more shine. This will be at the discretion of the on-field umpires.
Additionally, if the ball starts behaving differently after saliva application and the umpires believe that the application of saliva hasn’t led to said change, then the ball will not be replaced, though the batting team will be awarded five extra runs.
DRS protocol for secondary review after an out decision
Previously, if a batter took a review after being given out for a caught-behind decision, and the ball didn’t touch his bat or gloves but clipped the pads, a check for leg before wicket would ensue. If the ball-tracking resulted in an “umpire’s call”, the original out decision would be reversed and the batter would be given not out.
The rule has now changed for the second mode of dismissal: even with an “umpire’s call” on the ball-tracking for LBW, if the original decision was out, it will not be reversed.
Combined reviews
The ICC has modified the adjudication process during a combined review, which involves both umpire and player referrals, by checking the chronological order of the dismissal.
Earlier, in the case of an LBW and a run-out, the TV umpire would review the LBW and the ball would be rendered dead, so the run-out appeal would not be reviewed.
However, now, the umpire will check the LBW first, and only if the player is out will the ball be considered dead, otherwise the run-out appeal will be reviewed.
Fairness of catch for a no-ball
If there is a case of both on-field officials not being certain of a catch having been taken cleanly, the TV umpire informs them if there’s a no-ball even as they’re discussing.
In the previous version, once the no-ball was signalled, the TV umpire would not need to adjudicate on the fairness of the catch.
As per the rule change, however, the third umpire will now review the catch. If it’s a fair catch, then the batting team will only get an extra run for the no-ball. However, if the catch is not clean, the batting team will get however many runs the batters may have taken.
Deliberate short run
Earlier, if one — or both — of the batters were caught taking a deliberate short run, the batting team would suffer a five-run penalty.
But according to the latest change by the ICC, if one of the batters is found to have not made his ground deliberately in order to steal an extra run, the umpires will ask the fielding team to decide which batter they want on strike. The five-run penalty will continue to apply.
One-ball rule to return in ODIs after 35 overs
The ODI format previously used two new balls from either end till the end of one innings throughout the 50 overs. With the new rule in place, the fielding team will choose one of the two new balls after the 35th over and use the same for the rest of the innings.
This change is expected to bring about a fairer contest between bat and ball by encouraging reverse swing and making the latter stages of an innings more challenging for batters.
Full-time playing replacement in domestic first-class cricket
Taking into consideration the loss of a player who has suffered a serious external injury, the ICC has asked boards to trial in their domestic first-class cricket fielding a full-time replacement player.
This player will have to be a like-for-like replacement, as is the case for a concussion substitute. The injury will need to be evident to the match officials before they allow a full-time replacement. This will not apply to players suffering hamstring injuries or slight niggles.
This rule will be enforced on a trial basis and is entirely at the discretion of ICC member countries.
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