The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), recently announced some significant changes to the Laws of Cricket.
Here is the summary of all the changes:
- Saliva:
Saliva can not be used for shining the ball. - Run-out:
Infamously known as “Mankading,” running out the non-striker batter has been moved from Law 41 (Unfair Play) to Law 38 (Run Out). - No strike change: (Law 18)
In the event of caught dismissal, new batters will be on strike even if the batter on strike had crossed before the dismissal. - Striking off-pitch ball:
Batters can hit a ball that has landed off the pitch as long as they remain partly inside the pitch area. - Dead ball:
If any team has suffered disadvantages from a person or animal or objects entering the field, it will be called a dead ball by the umpire. - Wide ball decision: (Law 22)
The umpire will take all the positions of a batter stood during the bowler's run-up and at release to decide the wide ball. - Unfair movement penalty:
In case of unfair movement by the fielding side, they will be punished with five penalty runs instead of a dead ball. - Replacement players: (Law 1)
Replacement players will inherit any sanctions or dismissals from the player they replaced.
The laws were approved by the MCC Laws sub-committee last week. These changes are effective in practice from October 1, 2022.