Ashes cricketers will have to watch their step when they take to the field later this year with the Marylebone Cricket Club confirming on Tuesday their plans to implement new laws that will see players sent off for serious acts of misconduct.
In a range of new rules to come into effect in October, the MCC will also clamp down on the size of bats in a bid to “redress the balance between bat and ball”.
The changes, which include other on-field sanctions such as penalty runs for poor player behaviour, will come into effect in time for the 2017-18 Ashes series, to be played on Australian soil between November and January.
Bats, which have steadily increased in thickness over recent years and prompted accusations in some quarters that batsmen now hold an unfair advantage over bowlers, will be limited to maximum dimensions of 108mm in width, 67mm in depth with 40mm edges.
John Stephenson, the MCC’s head of cricket said it was the right time to consolidate the piecemeal changes made since the last code of laws was drawn up in 2000.
“The bat size issue has been heavily scrutinised and discussed in recent years,” Stephenson said. “We believe the maximum dimensions we have set will help redress the balance between bat and ball, while still allowing the explosive, big hitting we all enjoy.”
Umpires will be equipped with powers to deliver sanctions on the pitch, the severity of which will depend of the nature of the offence, according to a four-level sliding scale.
Excessive appealing and showing dissent at an umpire’s decision is at the lower end of the scale and could result in five penalty runs awarded to the opposition.
A level four offence – such as threatening an umpire or committing an act of violence – will result in five penalty runs and the removal of the offending player from the pitch. If that player is batting, he or she will be recorded as “retired out”.
Throwing the ball at (level two) or assaulting (level three) an opposition player will be punishable by penalty runs and “sin-binning” for a number of overs, depending on the format of the game.
“We felt the time had come to introduce sanctions for poor player behaviour and research told us that a growing number of umpires at grass roots level were leaving the game because of it,” Stephenson said.
“Hopefully these sanctions will give them more confidence to handle disciplinary issues efficiently, whilst providing a deterrent to the players.”
Other changes to be implemented include be the number of modes of dismissal being reduced from 10 to nine – “handled the ball” being subsumed into “obstructing the field” – and a change to the Mankad rule, making it easier to execute. Batsmen will, however, be protected from “bouncing bat” run outs.
The new code of laws will also be the first edition to be gender neutral, with terms such as “fielder” used. However, the term “batsman” will remain in use over the divisive “batter” as, according to the MCC, “it is seen as a term of the game that is equally applicable to females”.
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