The International Cricket Council (ICC) has updated its playing conditions to combat time-wasting tactics, introducing a structured penalty system for batters who fail to prepare for deliveries. While batters already face the risk of being dismissed “timed out” if they take too long to arrive at the crease, there has previously been no fixed regulation regarding the duration taken between individual deliveries.
Under the new guidelines, officials will issue a formal warning for the first instance of a batter delaying play. A second occurrence will result in a final warning, while a third and every subsequent delay will award five penalty runs to the fielding side. The ICC clarified that these warnings are reset once an innings concludes or after 80 overs have been bowled.
In addition to these disciplinary measures, the governing body has Tighter regulations have been established for the weight and size of balls, with the ICC defining three specific standards tailored for men’s, women’s, and junior cricket formats.
The council also introduced flexibility regarding match balls, authorizing the use of pink balls in daytime Test matches. This change allows for such balls to be utilized during the day, provided that both participating teams reach a mutual agreement prior to the start of the match.
