ICC changes two-ball rule and concussion sub protocols in men's ODIs

The ICC has approved the proposed change to the two-ball rule in ODIs and the concussion-substitute protocol across formats in men's international cricket.

The new playing conditions, recommended by the ICC's men's cricket committee and passed by the chief executives committee, will take effect from June 17 for Tests, July 2 for ODIs, and July 10 for T20Is.

Presently, there are two new balls used per innings in men's ODIs - one at either end. In the revised playing conditions, two new balls will be used from the start of an innings until the end of the 34th over. After the 34th over, the bowling team will choose one of the two balls, which they will use at both ends from overs 35 to 50.

The ICC said the aim of this change was to "readdress the balance between bat and ball".

If the ODI is reduced to 25 overs per side or less before the first innings begins, the bowling side shall have only one new ball to use for the entire innings.

According to the new concussion protocols, teams will have to name their substitute players to the match referee before the start of the match according to the following roles:

In January this year, India replaced batting allrounder Shivam Dube with a bowling allrounder in Harshit Rana during the fourth T20I against England. Rana went on to take 3 for 33 in the match, and the match referee's decision to approve him as a concussion substitute was widely debated at the time. The naming of players for specific roles in the concussion replacement list could prevent such situations.

If the replacement player also gets concussed and needs to be replaced, then the match referee will consider a player from outside the five nominations according to the existing like-for-like protocol.

The playing conditions regarding catches have also been tweaked, with the MCC disallowing the "bunny hop" outside the boundary for clean catches.