New rules on ball tampering framed

Karachi, Sept 5: Any bowler found tampering with the ball will be suspended from bowling in that innings and an additional five runs would be awarded to the batting side.

According to the new rules of the game, to be implemented from Oct 1, the umpires shall inform the fielding captain and will then ask him to remove the bowler who will then not be allowed to bowl again.

The modified rule, however, states that this procedure would be implemented after the first warning of the umpires have fallen into deaf ears. While the bowler will be banned from bowling in that innings, five penalty runs would be awarded to the batting side even after the first warning and followed up by the extreme action of the umpires.

Nevertheless, it has been made mandatory for the umpires to immediately replace the tampered ball with a replacement ball of an almost similar condition. Unfortunately, this clause of law 42.3 (i) was not followed by New Zealander John Reid while he suspended and fined Pakistan's premier fast bowler Waqar Younis in Sri Lanka.

It has also been added in the law that the umpires would inform not only the fielding captain but also the batting captain as to actually what had happened and what action he was taking. In addition to this, the umpires shall report the occurrence as soon as possible to the match referee who shall take such action as is considered appropriate against the captain and team concerned.

It has also been clarified in the law that the player is entitled to remove the dirt or mud from the ball. But that has to be done under the supervision of the umpire and player failing to comply with the instructions will be subject to disciplinary action.

Fair Delivery: The rules committee, after a hue and cry over the clarity of the law as to what constitutes as chucking, has also defined what is a fair delivery.

Law 24.3 states: "A ball is fairly delivered in respect of the arm if, once the bowler's arm has reached the level of the shoulder in the delivery swing, the elbow joint is not straightened partially or completely from that point until the ball has left the hand. "This definition shall not debar a bowler from flexing or rotating the wrist in the delivery swing."

Shoaib Akhtar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brett Lee, Shabbir Ahmad, Kumara Dharmasena and Rajesh Chohan have all got their careers affected as until now the rules weren't clear.

The law doesn't restrict as to which umpire would call or signal No ball if he considers that the ball has been thrown. Both the umpires have been empowered to signal and call if they think the delivery is illegal.

The law further states that after two official warnings, the bowler will be banned from further action in the innings. However, on all the three accounts, the umpire will have to call and signal No ball.

The clarification in the law was required after Darryl Hair called Muralitharan seven times in an over in 1995 but the bowler was not suspended from further action in the innings.

In an another significant change, it has been decided that the wicketkeeper's gloves shall have no webbing between fingers except that a single piece of flat non-stretch material may be inserted between index finger and thumb solely as a means of support.

Normally, the wicket-keepers use the material between the index finger and the thumb as pouch in which the ball often sticks and provides them extra advantage to dismiss the batsmen.

The Preamble: For the first time, The Preamble - The Spirit of the Game - has been included in the laws of cricket. While the captains and players roles have been clearly defined, the law allows the umpires to intervene in time wasting, damaging the pitch, dangerous or unfair bowling, tampering with the ball and any other action that they consider to be unfair.

The Spirit of the Game involves: respect for your opponents, your own captain and team, the role of the umpires, the game's traditional values; and against the Spirit of the Games constitutes to dispute an umpire's decision by word, action or gesture; to direct abusive language towards an opponent or umpire; to indulge in cheating or any sharp practice. For instance to appeal knowing that the batsman in not out, to advance towards an umpire in an aggressive manner when appealing, and to seek to distract an opponent either verbally or by harassment with persistent clapping or unnecessary noise under the guise of enthusiasm and motivation of one's own side.