The International Cricket Council (ICC) has revealed that, among other adjustments, there would be a significant shift in the Playing Conditions beginning on June 1, 2023.
After the proposals from the Men’s Cricket Committee, which is chaired by Sourav Ganguly, and the Women’s Cricket Committee were accepted by the Chief Executives’ Committee, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced amendments to the Playing Conditions.
The soft signal was eliminated, which meant that umpires were no longer needed to provide a soft signal when referring judgments to the TV umpire. This was the most significant aspect of the reform.
Before any judgments are made, “the on-field umpires will consult with the TV umpire,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced.
“Soft signals have been discussed at previous cricket committee meetings over the past couple of years,” Ganguly added. “Soft signals have been discussed at previous cricket committee meetings over the last couple of years.”
“After much deliberation, the committee came to the conclusion that soft signals were not necessary and could, at times, be confusing due to the fact that replays can make referrals of catches appear to be inconclusive.”
The second significant statement was the implementation of a policy that required those in high-risk occupations to wear helmets. When the batter is facing a quick bowler, when the wicketkeeper is positioned near to the stumps, and when fielders are close to the batter in front of the wicket are the situations in which helmets will be required.
“We also discussed player safety, which is very important to us,” Ganguly added about the meeting’s other topic of conversation. “The committee came to the conclusion that the best way to guarantee the players’ safety was to make it necessary for them to wear helmets when playing in certain positions.”
The Free Hit rule was modified slightly such that any runs scored off of a Free Hit after the ball hits the stumps will now be recorded as runs scored. This change will take effect immediately. This would imply that batsmen can now try a run even after being bowled off a free hit, which would be a new rule.
The new rules will be implemented on June 1, 2023, with the Lord’s Test between England and Ireland. This will be a one-off Test match that will take place over the course of four days.
These revised Playing Conditions will also be utilized for the next final match of the World Test Championship, which will take place between India and Australia on June 7.