Bowlers face match suspension for deliberate no balls

Dubai, July 22:

The BCCI has made a significant change to the playing conditions ahead of the 2026-27 domestic season, and, now, the bowler will be suspended for the remainder of the match for bowling deliberate front foot no balls or non-landing deliveries.

As per the existing rules, the bowler would have been suspended just for that particular innings for such deliveries.
The BCCI has circulated the changes, mooted by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) recently, among all the state associations.

“Bowler suspended for deliberate front foot no ball cannot bowl in the whole match. â?¦but the change to the playing conditions (41.8), will be decided by the on-field umpires,” the BCCI said in the circular, accessed by PTI.
Another significant rule change pertains to the day’s closure, and now, the last over will have to be completed even if a wicket falls in that over.

At present, stumps will be drawn if a wicket falls in the middle of the last over of the day.
But the MCC, and BCCI thereby, felt that rule 12.5.2 needed to be amended as it “prevented teams from sending a new batter out late in the day.” Similarly, the teams henceforth will not be permitted to declare or forfeiture (Rule 15.2) the final innings of the match, as the governing bodies thought “it was used for contrived results and bad for the game.” Now, the head coach of a team will be allowed to enter the field during drinks breaks during domestic one-day matches, as ICC has also proposed a rule change in this regard in international cricket.

The wicketkeepers also got some breather in the proposed changes as their gloves need to be behind the stumps (Rule 27.3) only at the time of the delivery.
Earlier, the keepers had to ensure that their gloves remained behind the wicket once the bowler started his/her run-up.

On a few instances earlier, the law led to the ball being called a no-ball or stumping gets nullified.
The state associations have started informing umpires and match referees about the new rule changes ahead of the domestic season, starting next month with the Duleep Trophy.

“There will be some awareness programmes for officials, besides making the relevant parts of the circular available to them. We have good enough time to do all this as domestic season is almost a month away,” an official said.