MCC brings in 73 changes to cricket law, makes final over mandatory

As many as 73 changes in laws of cricket, including mandatory completion of the final over in case of fall of a wicket in multi-day matches, have been announced by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), with the amendments set to come into effect from October this year. The MCC said the ‘new edition of the Laws of Cricket’, the first since 2022, has been drafted in to ensure laws are ‘up to date and fit for the modern game and that they should be as inclusive as possible’.

Announcing the changes on its website, the MCC said the final over in a multi-day match will have to be completed if a wicket has fallen, as not doing so takes “the drama out of the game”. “It was felt unfair that, if a fielding side takes a wicket in the final over of the day, the batting side does not have to send out a new batter,” MCC said. “This 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 new change means that the final over of the day will be bowled fully, even if a wicket falls during it (assuming conditions remain fit),” it added. The MCC, along with current and former women’s players at its World Cricket Connects, has worked with manufacturers to set new limits and names for balls in junior as well as women’s cricket. “The balls are now Size 1, Size 2 and Size 3, and while Size 1 (traditionally the men’s ball) has not changed, the margins are now uniform, making for three distinct categories of balls,” the MCC said.

The MCC legalised used of laminated bats for “open age cricket rather than just junior cricket” in an attempt to slow the rising costs of bats around the world. The wicket-keepers will no longer be penalised for having their gloves in front of the stumps when the bowler runs up. “Wicket-keepers cannot come in front of the stumps to collect the ball until it has passed the striker’s wicket or made contact with their bat or person that remains the case,” MCC said.

“But in a DRS age, umpires were noticing that some keepers move level with, or in front of, the stumps while the bowler is running up – technically a No-ball, but not something that would give them any advantage.” “The Law has now changed so that it is only after the ball is released that the wicket-keeper must be wholly behind the stumps. This brings the wording in line with a fielder’s position,” it added.  The use of laminated bats — made by bonding two or more pieces of woods — is now permitted in “open age cricket” to meet the rising costs of bats around the world.

“MCC has spent considerable time testing these bats, and it is not felt that laminated bats will give a significant performance advantage. However, it is expected that, at the top level of the game, bats will remain a single piece of willow,” the MCC said. Removing the ‘bunny hop catch’, the MCC said fielders going outside boundary can only touch the ball once while airborne, “and then, having done so, to be wholly grounded within the boundary for the rest of the duration of that delivery.” The MCC said if the fielder parries the ball from outside the boundary to his teammate who is inside it, and subsequently steps outside, then a boundary will be scored.  The MCC said it was defining an ‘overthrow’ for the first time. It said, “An overthrow is an attempt to direct the ball towards the stumps to stop run-scoring or attempt a run out. A misfield — whether an attempt to stop the ball or pass it to another fielder close to the boundary — should not be treated as an overthrow.”

The fielding side will have a third law on their side to determine which batter is on strike when it comes to deliberate short running. “This is now one of three times that players will be permitted to determine who is on strike for the next delivery. Law 41.5 (where a fielder obstructs the batter) has long been one such occasion, but this clause, and Law 37.5.2, when a batter is out obstructing a catch, will now give that power to the fielding captain,” the MCC said.

The ball will be considered “finally settled” when it is in the hands of a fielder or stationary on the ground, said MCC.  “The ball no longer has to be in the bowler’s or the wicketkeeper’s hands to be finally settled,” it said.