The Laws will become fairer to the bowling side with a set of changes under the new edition
A wicket falling in the final over of the day in a multi-day match will no longer mean stumps, with an update to the Laws of cricket requiring the over to be completed.
That’s one of 73 changes coming to the Laws of cricket in October after the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) announced the changes.
It is the first major update made by the custodians of the Laws since 2022, driven by the need to ensure they are ‘fit for the modern game’ and ‘inclusive for all’.
The update introduces 73 material changes, along with linguistic changes that complete the removal of gendered language and simplify the Laws.
The most noteworthy update that is likely to be seen in international cricket is to Law 12.5.2, which now prescribes that the final over of a day must be completed before stumps is called, even if a wicket falls.
The MCC found the previous conditions, under which the batting side wasn’t required to send in a new batter, to be unfair to the fielding side and to be ‘taking the drama out of the game’.
“This (play for the day ending with a wicket in the last over) doesn’t save time (which is the case at lunch and tea) as the remaining balls need to be made up the next day, and it takes the drama out of the game, while letting the incoming batter off the hook – at a time when the conditions are often more favourable to bowling,” the MCC said in a published update.
The updates put into Law some changes that have already been made in playing conditions for international cricket – such as changes in how boundary catches are adjudicated and deliberate ‘short running’.
The update makes significant changes for the lower levels of cricket, such as legalising the use of ‘laminated’ bats, and working with manufacturers to tighten tolerances on the size and weight of balls for junior and women’s cricket.
Another change extends the time in which umpires are able to award penalty runs, up until they leave the field of play, even if a result has been achieved.
It effectively puts teams on notice that celebrations after a result could see penalty runs being added.
If those penalty runs mean a result is no longer achieved, the match will continue.
And bowler suspensions for things like deliberate above-waist full-tosses and deliberate front foot no balls will now apply for the entire match, not just the bowling innings.
The bulk of the updates are minor clarifications to wordings, or concepts that the MCC thought were either too vague or a cause of confusion, like when is the ball ‘finally settled’, when is the fielder in ‘complete control of the ball’ and what constitutes an ‘overthrow’.
