New ICC Rules Revolutionize Test Cricket for 2025-27 Championship

Introduction of Stop Clock and New Regulations

Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has unveiled new regulations for Test cricket, including the introduction of a stop clock aimed at addressing slow over rates. This change allows fielding teams to determine which batter will take strike in cases of a 'deliberate' short run, as part of the playing conditions for the 2025-27 World Test Championship.

These new rules are effective from the commencement of the 2025-2027 World Test Championship, which kicked off with the initial Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Galle.

As per the ICC's Test Match Playing Conditions, the stop clock—similar to that used in limited-overs formats—has been implemented to tackle the persistent issue of slow over rates.

The ICC stated, "The fielding team must be prepared to start each over within 60 seconds after the previous over concludes. An electronic timer will be visible on the field, counting up from zero to 60 seconds."

If the fielding side fails to comply, they will receive two warnings, and upon a third violation, the batting team will be awarded five penalty runs.

These warnings will reset after 80 overs, according to the ICC.

In another significant update, ESPNcricinfo reported that umpires are no longer required to change the ball upon discovering saliva on it, although the prohibition on saliva usage remains intact.

Fielding teams may attempt to apply saliva to the ball to instigate a ball change, but the current playing conditions document for men's Test cricket does not reflect any such alterations.

Furthermore, the ICC clarified that if both players and on-field umpires make referrals, the process will follow a chronological order based on when they occurred.

In the event of a second review of a decision ruled 'out' by an on-field umpire, the default ruling for the next mode of dismissal will remain 'out'.

For instance, if a batter contests an on-field decision for caught-behind and is deemed not out, but replays indicate the ball struck the pads, the TV umpire will then check for leg-before wicket.

In this case, the default ruling for this dismissal will also be 'out', and if ball-tracking shows 'umpire's call', the batter will be ruled 'out'.

Regarding a 'deliberate short run', the ICC defined it as an attempt by batters to appear to run more than one run while at least one batter intentionally does not complete their run at one end.

Batters may opt to abort a run, provided the umpire believes there was no intent to deceive or score the run they failed to complete.

In such instances, the bowler's end umpire will nullify all runs for the batting side, return any not out batter to their original position, signal a no-ball or wide-ball if necessary, indicate a short-run to the scorers, award five penalty runs to the fielding team, and request the captain to identify which batter will be on strike for the next delivery.

Additionally, the ICC announced that the TV umpire will now assess the legitimacy of a catch taken off a no-ball. If the catch is deemed fair, the batting side will receive an extra run for the no-ball, while if the catch is not cleanly taken, the batting side will be awarded the runs they would have scored.

Previously, the TV umpire was not required to evaluate the fairness of a catch off a no-ball.