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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved significant changes to the two-ball rule in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and the concussion substitute protocol across all formats in men’s international cricket. These new playing conditions will take effect from June 17 for Tests, July 2 for ODIs, and July 10 for T20Is, respectively.

The revised two-ball rule in the ODIs will continue to use two new balls, one from each end, but only until the end of the 34th over. After the overs 35 to 50, the bowling team will select one of the two balls to be used at both ends. The ICC stated that this adjustment aimed to restore balance between bat and ball. If an ODI is reduced to 25 overs per side or less before the first innings begins, only one new ball will be used for the entire innings.

The ICC has also introduced heavy concussion substitute protocols. The teams must pre-name five substitute players to the match referee before the start of the match while covering the following roles: one wicketkeeper, one batter, one seam bowler, one spin bowler, and one all-rounder.

This change aims to prevent controversial concussion substitute decisions, such as India replacing Shivam Dube with Harshit Rana during the fourth T20I against England, a move that sparked debate due to concerns over whether it was a like-for-like replacement. Additionally, if a replacement player also suffers a concussion, the match referee may approve a substitute outside the five nominated players, after the existing like-for-like protocol.

MCC bans multiple airborne contacts beyond boundary in updated catch rule

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has also revised playing conditions regarding boundary catches, disallowing the bunny hop technique outside the boundary for clean catches, which will be effective from October 2026. Under the revised rule, an airborne fielder can only make one contact with the ball beyond the boundary before returning to the field to complete the catch.

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