ICC brings about significant changes to playing conditions in Tests

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved several notable changes to playing conditions, including stopping the clock in Tests. Some of these new rules, especially those in red-ball cricket, have already come into effect in the new World Test Championship cycle.

The changes made to white-ball cricket, especially One-Day Internationals, however, will come into effect from July 2. Some of the major changes include a full-time replacement player who can take the place of one who is injured, and the fine imposed on fielding sides for applying saliva on the ball in Tests.

We take a look at some of the major changes (via ESPNCricinfo) brought about by the ICC in their new playing conditions:

Full-time replacement player

The ICC has asked its member nations to trial a full-time replacement player who can take the place of another who gets injured during a match. This trial is expected to take place in first-class cricket and will involve players who are like-for-like to the one they have replaced.

The ball will not be changed after deliberate usage of saliva

The ICC has enforced a rule in which a ball will not be changed if the usage of saliva is found on it. The ban on using saliva on a ball continues, and the offending team will be fined five runs if found doing so deliberately. The ball will only be changed at the umpires' discretion, and only if they find its nature to have been significantly altered.

Stop clock rule in Test cricket

The ICC has already started using the stop clock in white-ball cricket and will now implement it in Tests as well. This new rule stipulates that fielding sides must be ready to bowl the next over within a minute of having finished the previous one. If teams fail to do so, they will receive two warnings, at the end of which five runs will be awarded to the batting side.

Deliberate short run

If the batting side is found to be deliberately taking a short run, they will suffer a five-run penalty, and the fielding side will be given the option of choosing which batter they want on strike. Earlier, the rule included only the five-run penalty and not the choice for the fielding captain to decide which batter to have on strike.

Combined reviews

In the case of combined reviews, the ICC has decided to take them up in a chronological manner. Say, if an umpire review and a player review were to be taken up simultaneously, for a caught behind and run-out, respectively, the caught behind decision will be referred to first, as it took place first. If the batter is declared out in the caught behind decision, the ball will be seen as dead.