The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rolled out transformative rules for the game that will be effective from July 2. From penalising the short runs to implementing mandatory stop clocks in Tests for faster play, these changes prioritise fairness and excitement. Check out all the new changes approved by cricket's governing body.

All You Need To Know About ICC's New Rules For Cricket
 

Stop Clock In Test Cricket

To eradicate slow over rates, the stop clock has been introduced in Test cricket. There should not be a delay of more than 60 seconds from the end of the preceding over to the start of a new over. If the bowling team commit the time violation for the third time in an innings, they will be penalised five runs. The warnings will reset after a play of 80 overs.

Saliva Ban Stays But With A Tweak

Although players are prohibited from using saliva on the ball, umpires are no longer required to replace the ball if a player is caught doing so. Only if the umpire judges the condition of the ball has deteriorated beyond recognition, he would change the ball. This would prevent the fielding side from deliberately applying saliva to get the ball changed.

DRS Reviews Overhaul

If a batter is deemed out, and another mode of dismissal is checked, the umpire's call of 'out' will be valid for other modes of dismissal too. For instance, if the batter, is caught out, and challenges the decision, the umpire's call will prevail also when the decision for an lbw is being checked.

Fairness Of Catch On No-Ball

Even on a no-ball, the third umpire will evaluate the fairness of a catch. If the catch is clean, any runs scored by running between the wickets will not be counted

Deliberate Short Runs To Be Penalised

If a batter intentionally takes a short run, the fielding captain can decide which batter remains on strike, and the batting team is penalised five runs. "A deliberate short run is an attempt for batters to appear to run more than one run, while at least one batter deliberately does not make good their ground at one end," Rule 18.5.1 of the playing conditions says. "Batters may choose to abort a run, provided the umpire believes that there was no intention by the batter concerned to deceive the umpires or to score the run in which they didn't make their ground."

New Powerplay Rules For T20s

In a rain-affected match, the length of Powerplay will be 30% of the overs to be played, rounded to the nearest ball, not the over. For instance, if the match is reduced to nine-over-per-side, the Powerplay duration will be 30% of the 54 balls rounded to the nearest ball, that is 16 balls (2.4 overs).T20S