DRS to be used in T20 Internationals from Oct 1

The ICC chief executives committee has approved all recommendations made by the ICC cricket committee in May, which include the use of DRS in all T20Is and teams not losing a review when an LBW review comes back as umpire’s call.

This means that from October 1, teams will not lose a review for “umpire’s call” verdicts under the DRS. The 80-over top-up of reviews in Test cricket has been removed. The committee also approved the minimum standards for the use of DRS for international cricket. This includes the mandatory use of accredited ball tracking and edge detection technology.

A number of the approved recommendations were related to the DRS. Teams will no longer have their reviews topped up at the 80-over mark in Test matches. DRS, meanwhile, will now be used in the T20I format as well.

In other changes, in order to restore the balance between bat and ball, the ICC approved recommendations relating to bat sizes. The MCC World Cricket Committee in Mumbai, which included Australian legend Ricky Ponting among other cricket luminaries and is chaired by former England captain Mike Brearley, last year suggested that size of a bat’s edges and depths should be limited to 40 mm and 67 mm, respectively.

“As a result, the main Committee of MCC will be asked to approve a limit to bat edges of 40mm and bat depths of 67mm (60mm for the depth plus an allowance of 7mm for a possible curve on the face of the bat). If approved, these changes will be implemented into the new code of the Laws of Cricket, which will be introduced on 1 October 2017,” the MCC suggested.

“Many of the top players’ bats have edges of between 38mm and 42mm, but there are some which have edges of up to 50mm, which was felt to be excessive and in need of restriction,” the governing body emphasised.

Also, as in football, umpires will now be vested with the power to send players off the field for serious incidents of misconduct.